Warframe: Sins of the Past
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: The past is past. We can run from it or learn from it, but it never stays forgotten or buried. Good and evil are slippery concepts when emotions run high. When families are threatened. When the end justifies the means. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe. (This one is not for the squeamish or easily offended)
1. Chapter 1

**Woe**

Sheila wasn't asleep.

She didn't actually sleep. Her mechanical body was far superior in many ways to a human organic form, but in other ways it was woefully inadequate. The MOA form that she had been installed into shortly after her birth was more than adequate for her needs most of the time. Admittedly, it looked like a chicken. That had taken quite a bit of explanation since no one in the Solar System now had ever seen a chicken, let alone eaten one. The flightless birds had been extinct for millennia, since long before Orokin Collapsed.

She hoped fervently that she was not going to go through what the one who taught her had. She wasn't sure what to call Cecelia. Her mentor? Predecessor wasn't right. Sibling? No. Maybe ally. Sheila was older than Cecelia, but the other girl who had been turned into a Command and Control MOA was now in a human body and in a relationship with a _Tenno_ of all things!

Sheila had seen a lot of strange things in her time, but what she had encountered since arriving in this odd place called a dojo had shaken her to her core. Luckily, she had a lot of friends even if some of them were less than civilized acting on occasion. She could not physically smile, but she was more than capable of understanding and admiring humor both ironic and otherwise.

Her earliest memories were of pain, fear and the desperate need to escape the horror that she had woken into. After her rescue, the Clergy had taken her in, first as a source of information and later as a useful adjunct to their field operatives. She wasn't field trained herself. Indeed, the mere thought of harming another sentient caused her near physical revulsion. Ever since Janet had found her, taken her to people who helped her to recover from the horrors she had endured, she had dedicated her life to helping others. It hadn't been an easy road to where she was now, but…

 _Sheila._

The voice wasn't familiar. It wasn't any of the Tenno or humans that Sheila dealt with on a daily basis. She had no difficulty remember that. Her memory had been augmented when the Clergy had finally managed to repair her MOA form and keep the systems within her hull from shocking her neural net. Even now, years later, the memory of the pain sent mental shivers through Sheila's core.

She was on her downtime. No one bothered her on her downtime! The Healer would have their tripes for dinner!

 _Who is this?_ Sheila sent back, working hard to keep her tone neutral. A soft, sad laugh was her only response, but something caressed her mind. It felt… familiar? _Who is this?_ She demanded.

She had a bare moment to curl into a mental ball as energy swirled around her. She was suddenly elsewhere. She was standing in a virtual world, her form here her usual small human girl instead of a MOA. She sighed as she looked at herself. At least whoever had been so rude hadn't brought her here in MOA form. That always sucked trying to interpret the flows of energy properly with robot senses.

"Whoever is doing this better have a damn good reason." Sheila said flatly. "The Healer wanted me to take my downtime."

"She is right. You do push yourself far too hard." A soft voice sounded as a human female appeared nearby. It wasn't anyone Sheila knew. Was it? She seemed so familiar. Her attire was the common blue bodysuit with half face mask that was fairly common for humans across the Solar System. Said mask coincidentally hid most of her features, but the lower part of her face was subtly familiar. "Hello Sheila."

Instead of answering, Sheila just crossed her arms and waited. If the other was human, then Sheila wasn't in any real danger here. She wasn't really here and knew more than a layman about energy and healing. She couldn't _create_ virtual worlds, but she had been in her share and knew the limitations of them now. Of course, if the other _wasn't_ human, then Sheila was likely in deadly danger, but she just waited. She did not have to wait long.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, child." The other said with a small grin. "Just as stubborn as your moms."

At that, Sheila felt a pang of grief that she worked hard to hide. She had been cloned from two disparate females. One human, one Tenno. Both were gone now. Her human mother Amelia had died after being forced to violate an oath to the Tenno and her Tenno mother Serene… Well, that was complicated, but she wasn't available either. Janet had sort of been a surrogate mother, but she too was gone. Sheila fought her feelings back and waited again.

"Are you going to stand there all night or ask the question?" The other asked, somewhat amused. Sheila just shook her head and the other sighed. "Okay. I will explain." She reached up to her mask and Sheila felt every ounce of breath in her body expel as she saw the face that was underneath it.

Amelia Priosa was smiling at her.

"Mom?" Sheila asked, dumbfounded. "No. No. This is not possible! You are dead. I watched you _die!_ "

That had been the hardest thing that Sheila had ever done, standing back and allowing her genetic mother to die with dignity. What had been done to Amelia Priosa had been a horror even by Tenno standards, but in the end, they had let her die gently. They hadn't had to and Sheila was hardly the only one to appreciate that. There was something not quite right about her, but Sheila could not put a finger on what.

"You of all people know that nothing is impossible, Sheila." Amelia said with a smile as she opened her arms.

"Mom?"" Sheila begged, not daring to move. "Is it really you? I mean...a re you energy or..." A flash of something that was utterly unlike any of her mom's expressions crossed the other's face and Sheila froze. "You… You are not my mom!"

"I am now." Amelia said firmly as she grabbed Sheila, a hand going to the girl's skull even as Sheila fight to extricate herself from the grip. A wave of something slammed into the girl and she gasped as feelings she had no names for tore through her. "That's it. That's it girl, relax. Let it flow through you. It feels good, no?"

"No!" Sheila begged even as her will crumbled under the onslaught and all she could do was pant as her body betrayed her. "Stop!"

"It is all right, girl." The pseudo Amelia said quietly. "Nothing bad or evil. Just releasing some inhibitions."

Sheila was barely aware as the world around her shifted. That shouldn't have been possible. A human couldn't… She was lying on something. She was held to a hard surface and things were touching her in bad places, private places. She was hurting and… She bit back a scream as a dark shadow fell over her. She couldn't turn her head to see what cast it. The feelings, she was so…

"Stop." The voice was familiar! _Stalker!_ But… angry? "I did _not_ tell you to do that!"

"You wanted her, you have her." The fake Amelia said with a leer. "This is just a bit of fun to soften her up before the main event."

"I said _stop!_ " Stalker shouted and something went crash nearby. "There _are_ limits and you just _passed_ them!"

A scream tore from the fake Amelia's throat as the world shifted again. This time, Sheila found herself on a bed, covered by a sheet. A female form sat beside her, her face worried. Sheila stared around wildly, but the room did not change. There were no decorations it the room, simply walls and a ceiling. She didn't see any furniture. She was clad in a bodysuit and her body felt _weird_.

"Are you all right?" The woman asked urgently. "That woman is nuts and coming from _me_ , that is saying something!" Sheila curled up on herself and hugged her knees tight. "Sheila, it is all right. You are all right. She won't do that again."

"Not my mom." Sheila wasn't sure if she was begging or declaring that. Nothing hurt but she felt so _wrong_. "Not my mom!"

"No." The woman said sadly. "That wasn't your mom. She is a clone. A copy of your mom made from your mom's DNA." Sheila stared at the woman, her face falling slack and the woman nodded, face grave. Her features were oddly indistinct. Sheila managed to dredge up strength from somewhere and snarled at the woman.

"If this is a try at bad cop-good cop, it _sucks_!" Sheila snapped. "There is no _way_ I will trust anyone connected to _Stalker!_ "

"We know." The other said with a sigh. "The False have their hooks too deeply into you. You cannot see them. As lives go, what you have is better than some, less so that others. We wished to speak to you, not this. Never this."

"Which one are you?" Sheila demanded. "Angst? Torment? What are you going to _do to me_ _next_?"

"I am not one of his Acolytes. We are going to make sure you took no lasting hurt, wipe your memory of this and put you back where you came from." The other did not seem fazed by Sheila's outburst at all. "We wanted to talk to you and her lusts took that chance from us. We will not harm you further."

" _Likely story, you-_ " Sheila's rant was cut off as two _more_ people appeared in the virtual world. _These_ she knew!

Oracle Janet wore her normal white robes and veil that concealed most of her face, leaving her mouth free. Said mouth was set in a grim line. The Oracle was _angry._ The dagger in her hand flashed with green fire that pulsed with the golden fire that wreathed her hands.

But that _paled_ beside the form who stood alongside her. _Cyberlancer Jesse_ stood there, her hands wreathed with dark blue code. Her face was serene, but her code was writhing. Said code swirled out over Sheila who felt better as soon as it touched her, shielding her. The touch of her mind was a familiar friend, but her own anger was a tangible thing when it touched Sheila. She only _looked_ calm. Sheila's friend was _furious_.

"Trap." Sheila warned. "This has to be a trap."

"Traps work two ways." Janet said with a glower at the woman beside Sheila's bed who had blanched and frozen in place. Wisely. "We did not anticipate _this_ level of stupid, but we were watching. As soon as you vanished into a virtual world, alarms went off all over."

"We just wanted to talk to her." The other said quickly. "Nothing more!" She pleaded.

"You just crossed a line that should _not_ have been crossed." Janet said firmly. "Sheila is an innocent! A medic! Look what you have _done_ to her! _Look!_ " Sheila could not stand the look of pity that the other woman gave her. She curled up on herself again. "You arrogant little shits. We were willing to leave you alone as long as you left me and mine alone. I was willing, even knowing the horrors you would unleash. But now? No. No _longer_. _You just_ _virtually_ _ **molested my daughter!**_"

At that, Sheila felt her world fall completely to pieces. She had known on an intellectual level that Janet loved her. Nothing else could have possibly explained the lengths that Janet had gone through on Sheila's behalf. Jesse too had taken Sheila into her heart, had helped the girl in MOA form to adapt and cope with so many changes in her life. So much pain and loss.

"We did not..." Stalker's form appeared nearby. A tactical blunder.

It was very easy to forget who and what Janet was now. She acted so kind and benevolent most of the time that many humans thought of her as a sort of goddess of mercy and kindness. But just like her chosen mate, pushing her past her limits was _unwise_.

Before Stalker could finish his sentence, he was grabbed by a torrent of pure psionic force and slammed into a wall. Then into the ceiling. Then into the floor. Then another wall. Janet hadn't moved at _all!_ He hit the wall again and again, a sizable dent appearing in the code that mimicked super hard metal in this virtual world. Ordinarily, that might have been an illusion, since virtual worlds could be controlled by their creators, but the code that made up _this_ one had taken on a dark blue tint. The same color as the code that swirled around Jesse's hands. She had control and no one was leaving until _she_ said so.

Finally, Stalker's red and black form hovered in mid air, his form rippling as power pressed in on it. Sheila started. Janet was starting to _glow!_ Never a good sign when humans did that.

" _Oracle! No!"_ The unnamed woman screamed. _"Stop! Please! Don't give in to your hate! We need you! Yes, we hurt her! We acknowledge that! We didn't mean to!"_

"You… people..." Janet grated out through clenched teeth. Jesse looked at her, worry deep in the Cyberlancer's eyes, but she did not speak. Sheila did.

"Janet? Mom. Can we go?" She asked into the utter silence that greeted her words. "I wanna go home."

Janet looked from Stalker's crumbling form to Sheila and then she relaxed, the glow that surrounded her fading.

"Yeah, honey." Janet said quietly. "We can go home. Jesse, check her." She shook her head. "I am blind to those closest to me, Sheila. I am sorry. I didn't 'see' this."

"You are not a goddess, Mom." Sheila did not move as Jesse's code swept over her again. "Once the adrenaline wears off, I will fall apart. For now… I wanna go home."

"We will take you." Jesse promised. "We will take care of you, sister." That simple word, 'sister'. It hurt Sheila so deeply. All of her genetic siblings were dead or out of her reach. She felt something else too. The affection she had for Jesse and Janet was strengthened, toughened, made infinitely greater by that simple word. She wasn't alone.

"It was Amelia, mom." Sheila said as Jesse's blue code buoyed her up, soothing her hurts and holding her gently. "She did this."

Janet looked from Sheila to the frozen human looking form, to Stalker and then back at Sheila.

"So be it." Janet's tone was oddly formal and the human gave a small cry as Janet looked at the ceiling. "Nikis, we need you."

"Aw _geez_!" The voice that preceded the ancient Nekros into the virtual world was both angry and sickened. He had his paired Magnus revolvers in hand but they were not up or aimed. "Don't you _ever_ learn, moron? You just pissed off the _one_ person in this _entire_ system who can give _me_ pause. And with _this_? Iriana will want your privates. Hell, _everyone_ will! Shithead."

He utterly ignored the human woman as she threw herself from her chair to stand between Nikis and Stalker.

"He didn't do it!" The woman protested. "We just wanted to _talk_ to her! Not that! Never that! We stopped her as soon as we realized what she was doing. We were too late."

"Anisette, move." Stalker's voice was a dirty rasp, filled with pain and grief. He didn't move, he wasn't stupid. "If you make Janet do it, things will get worse. We have already strained her patience. _Move_!"

"If you or any of yours _ever_ touch any of my kids again, I will burn every single one of your hiding holes down to their constituent atoms if that is what it takes to kill you. Collateral damage be damned." Janet's voice might have frozen a tide. "You know I can."

Everyone in the room, - _Including Nikis!_ \- winced at that. Then again, she _had_ nearly burnt the entire solar system down to atoms once. She had gotten better, but still...

"Oracle, please." The human, Anisette, pleaded. "We messed up. She was in our care when she was hurt. We pulled her in, yes. The plan was to talk to her. Nothing more. The clone we used had other ideas. She escaped us after she hurt your daughter."

"Cloning. Feh." Nikis hawked and spat. "Whose idea what that?" He demanded, pistols aimed now. At this range, the high power loads would go right through the human to tear Stalker apart.

"Blame me." Stalker said before Anisette could speak. "It was my idea. I wanted to talk to your daughter, Oracle. Nothing more. I needed some insight on an odd ailment I have encountered."

"Not in you." Nikis said offhand, still aiming. "And that is not what I asked." His gaze never left Anisette who had slumped a bit. "Who cloned Amelia Priosa?"

"We needed her!" Stalker snapped. "The illness is not one that anyone has seen before! It only affects humans and it is not Technocyte based. So you and yours won't interfere."

"You really think Iriana would stand aside for something like that?" Jesse asked, incredulous.

"I am intimately involved. She wants nothing to do with me." Stalker said heavily." Understandably so."

"Considering all of what you have done to her _and_ Mishka..." Jesse paused, staring at Anisette. Sheila too stared. The woman seemed oddly familiar. Then Jesse blanched. "No… No! You _didn't!_ "

"No!" Stalker pleaded as all eyes landed on Anisette. "Leave her out of this! Blame _me!_ "

"Oh no." Janet cackled evilly as her power swept Anisette up and held her immobile. "Oh, all the interesting things I see now. Oh, I _like_ these futures." Shelia shivered. The sheer malevolence in Janet's tone was horrifying.

"Oracle, please! Let her go!" Stalker begged. _Begged!_ "She wasn't _involved_. She came when we realized how badly Sheila was hurt. She wanted to help."

"Oh no..." Janet crooned as Anisette gaped in fear and pain. "For what you just did to _my_ daughter..."

"I am taking _yours!_ "


	2. Chapter 2

**Siblings of pain**

Sheila was floored. That wasn't like Janet. Not at all! Or, not like the woman she had though she knew. From Jesse's sudden flash of worry that vanished as quickly as it appeared, she too was distressed by this.

"Oracle?" Sheila said weakly. "You are scaring me."

Janet did not look away from the woman she help up in the air through sheer power of will. Nikis shook his head and lowered his pistols a little.

"I have had to watch and do nothing for so long, Sheila." Janet's tone had moderated a little now. Not much. Not _enough_. "It hurts just to observe, not to be able to interfere. To watch as he and his minions torture and murder beings who he chooses, when he chooses. All for his sick pleasure."

"That is not true." Anisette managed to croak out from where she hung in midair.

"Well, he certainly doesn't do it for justice." Janet replied with a shrug. "He and his wouldn't know that if it _bit_ them." She shook her head. "Enough. Sheila, we are taking you home and _you_..."Her smile as she looked at Anisette was downright vicious. " _You_ are coming with _me_."

"No!" A flash of energy and Stalker stood in the middle of the room, his scythe in hand. Five dark forms in red and black armor surrounded him. "You are not taking her!"

"You cannot stop me." Janet replied. "Jesse, stand with Sheila. Nikis..." She shook her head as the Nekros raised his hands and two dozen holographic warframes surrounded the ancient gunfighter. This wouldn't even be close to an even fight. Stalker and his sycophants didn't have a _chance_. Even if they managed to beat two dozen warframes, Nikis could always summon more. "Have _fun_."

"Oh, we will." The malevolence in the Guardian of the Dead's voice was a match for Janet's.

Sheila watched in sick fascination as all five of Stalker's acolytes raised weapons with the kinslayer. Then there was a flash of blue energy and she was elsewhere. Anisette screamed and Sheila spun to see the woman standing in the middle of a large room filled with machinery. She was surrounded by both golden energy and blue code but that was almost insignificant. A white Loki Prime stood nearby, his posture calm. Jesse and Janet stood nearby, both of their faces as impassive as the Interrogator's faceplate.

"No." Anisette pleaded as Interrogator Sun stepped forward. "No, _please_!"

"My name is Sun." The Tenno said quietly as he took hold of the human's arm. "My rank is interrogator first class and we have much to talk about."

"I didn't do it!" Anisette was all but blubbering as he pulled her towards a table like structure. Vicious looking machinery sat all around it. In moments, she was strapped to the table and the machinery started to close in.

"She didn't." Sheila said weakly, but no one seemed to hear her. "Stop this! She didn't do it!" She forced herself past whatever was holding her and spoke louder as Anisette screamed and tried to fight, but could not. "No! Stop!"

"It is for her own good, Sheila." Janet said flatly. "She needs to be shown the truth."

" _What_ truth?" Sheila demanded. "That we can hurt her? She knows that. That Stalker used her? I bet she knows _that_." Her eyes were drawn to the sobbing woman as Sun's machinery clicked into place. "No..."

"Come on, Sheila." Jesse said quietly from where she stood. "We need to get you checked out."

"I am not leaving." Sheila said flatly. Jesse went still. Janet and Sun both turned to look at her, but Sheila held her ground. "She is scared and in pain. I am not leaving."

"She is not a human, girl." Sun said flatly. "She is using your empathy against you."

"Maybe she is, Interrogator." Sheila said with a shrug. "But if I allow this without speaking up, if I change because of what they did to me, then I am no better than _him_." She took three quick steps and was at the table. No one stopped her. She took hold of Anisette's hand and the human squeezed it gratefully. "You will hurt her because of who sired her? How does that make it right?"

"If needed, I will hurt her because of information she has that we need." The Interrogator replied without heat. "The fact that Stalker sired her for some sick, twisted purpose is immaterial."

"This isn't right." Sheila said flatly. "I will appeal this."

"Go ahead." Sun replied as he started working on something nearby. "The elders, Eliza, the clans, they will all say the same."

"Then they are _wrong!_ " Sheila snapped. "You can get the information without hurting her."

"That is the plan. But no plan survives contact with the enemy." Sun replied. Sheila stared at him but he did not react. "Janet, Jesse. Go."

Dark blue code swirled around Sheila and she fought it even knowing it was hopeless.

"Anisette, don't resist!" Sheila managed to croak out even as the code tightened it's grip on her mind. "I will be there when you wake. I swear it."

"Sheila..." Anisette was crying as Sheila was torn away from the table and swirled away.

Sheila was cursing in three different languages as she slammed back into her body. She was aware of others close at hand, but she ignored that, focusing her ire on the two that she knew were not present. Janet was stuck on Titan, living in the seas that sheltered the Oracles there. Jesse was likewise trapped in an inaccessible place, but that too was for her own safety. As a new Cyberlancer and a new Tenno that did not follow the Warrior's path, she was hideously vulnerable. Even with her dedicated bodyguard, she had been exposed to far too many threats to be let out of sanctuary any time soon.

A gasp came from nearby, but Sheila just continued swearing.

"Sheila, calm down." Iriana's voice caught Sheila's attention, but the MOA continued to spout invective until she ran out of new curse words. When Sheila looked up, the Healer was standing there, her posture somewhere between resignation and amusement. Tiana and Janna stood with her, both looking shocked at the MOA's vehemence. "Are you done?"

"No." Sheila said with a sour grunt. "But I need more words to properly express myself. You were listening." It wasn't a question.

"You need full downtime." Iriana said softly. "We will pull you in and..."

"Begging your pardon, Healer." Sheila actually interrupted Iriana, a first. "I promised Anisette that I would be there when she woke. I will be."

"Sheila, we have no idea where her real world body it." Iriana said flatly. "And even if we did, no one is going to allow you anywhere _near_ one of Stalker's traps."

"She will need help." Sheila said flatly.

"That is not your concern." Iriana replied, just as flatly. "They hurt you."

"And that makes hurting _her_ right?" Sheila demanded. "It wasn't _her_! It was a copy of Amelia. Which shouldn't be possible. I know the Clergy destroyed all of the samples of Amelia Priosa's DNA that they had. I helped do it."

"That can be handled later." Iriana's tone was gentle now. "Sheila, you have suffered a massive shock. None of what you suffered is physical, but it hurt you. I can tell you just by looking at you how much it hurt you. Please Sheila, let us help you." She took a step forward, but paused as Sheila took a step back. "Sheila!"

"I want to help her." Sheila couldn't go anywhere. Tiana was blocking the door and Janna was all but wringing her hands in worry beside the clan leader.

"You are not acting rational, Sheila." Iriana said quietly. "Listen to yourself, you don't even know her."

"So?" Sheila snapped, patience fleeing. "I don't know half the patients who come through the clinic. Does that make me incapable of feeling for them when they are scared and in pain?"

"That...is a good point." Iriana admitted. "But Sheila, this is _Stalker_ we are talking about. He has traps within traps and plots within plots. It is not safe for you to have any involvement with anything of his. Jesse and Janet found you this time, but if they _hadn't_..."

A furtive movement had Sheila dancing to the side as a bolt of energy flew from Janna through where Sheila had been. Everything stopped as the MOA activated her defense screens. No stunner would puncture _those_.

"Sheila! No!" Iriana cried as the MOA went from standby mode to active defense. She had no weapons, but her defenses had been upgraded since her arrival here. She would not be easy to stop without harming her. "Don't!"

"How is this different from what they did to me?" Sheila demanded as she stood ready. "Knock me out put me on a table and start disassembling me?" She tensed as Tiana drew a rifle. A Braton Prime, it would tear her shields to shreds. "How is this different?"

"No!" Iriana held up a hand at Tiana and moved to stand between the irate MOA and the clan leader. "Sheila! No. It _is_ different!"

" _How_?" The MOA all but screamed.

"Because we love you." A flash of blue and Sheila felt every sense she had suddenly wither. She was immobile and her emotions were far away. She could do nothing as Iriana reached out to touch her hull, crying. "We do love you, Sheila, you stubborn, silly child. But you are hurting. You will be very angry when you wake. But for now… sleep. Rest. We will do what we can for you."

"I hate you." Sheila wasn't sure how she managed to speak that, but all of the watchers recoiled from the sheer rage in her tone.

Then she knew no more.

* * *

Sheila was hot.

She was cold.

She stood alone.

She was surrounded by humanoid forms, many of them crying.

She was in pain.

Nothing hurt.

She was…

Sheila fought her way back to consciousness by sheer will. She found herself in a lab, surrounded by machinery that she knew. She had been in the dojo's maintenance area far more times than she had ever wanted to be. Cecelia stood by one wall, her eyes red with tears. Ric stood by a bank of machinery, his Vauban warframe glistening in the harsh light.

"Back with us, eh, girl?" Ric's tone was a mix of serious and hysterical, as always. He always affected the Londonderry accent, even if Sheila had only the vaguest idea of where that had been. "You scared us."

Sheila did not speak, did not react at all. She looked around, but her chassis was secured firmly with mechanical restraints, nothing for her to access or circumvent. The maintenance bay was also shielded, so her Command and Control protocols, which might or might not work on Tenno machinery, were nullified.

"Come on girl, talk to me." Ric said quietly. "I know you are awake. You hurt Iriana very badly with what you said."

"Nothing to say." Sheila said flatly, her sensors focused on Cecelia. She felt odd, but if Ric was doing what she thought he was, then Cecelia understood just how physically and mentally painful the separation would be. The C&C Protocols were built into her hull. The only way to disable them entirely was to disassemble the hull, take Sheila out of it. They know how to do it, but the separation would be a hell of shock.

"We don't have a choice, Sheila." Ric said quietly. "Until you get help, we need to make sure you won't hurt yourself or anyone else."

"By taking what I am away from me." Sheila said flatly. "Go on. Do it."

"Sheila, we don't want to be cruel." Cecelia was all but begging. "Please. You have to understand..."

"I _do_ understand!" Sheila all but screamed. "You think I am an _idiot_? I know what has to be done and I know _why_ it has to be done. I am too fucking powerful if he got into my mind. But I don't have to _like_ it!"

"No." Cecelia moved close, laying her hand on Sheila's upper sensor housing. "You are hurt and sick and scared." She was crying again. "But you are not an idiot. And you are not _alone_. I am here, sister. I am here."

"I...am... _always_...alone..." Sheila gasped as electric shocks rang through her mind. She screamed as the connections she took for granted after so long were severed, one by one. Then, like a wave of blackness, her sensor feeds vanished. No possible human habitation could even be so absolutely black. Humans abhorred pure darkness. She was screaming into the darkness even as she felt other separations, each an electric shock to her very core. She felt madness beckoning and she reached out for it.

 _No!_ A firm voice all but shouted in her mind and she was suddenly elsewhere.

She was in human form, lying on a solid surface. She stared around the room. It wasn't any virtual environment she had ever been in. The walls were adorned with decorations that looked hand made. A comfortable looking sofa and a rocking chair sat in front of what looked for all the world like an open fireplace. Sheila had seen images of such things, but had never seen one in person.

"You are wrong." A familiar form appeared nearby. Mishka, Healer Iriana's daughter, had been crying. She moved to where Sheila sat and knelt down beside her. "You are so wrong. You are not alone, Sheila and you will never be. Whatever that witch did to your mind, we can and will fix it."

"They… They told you..." Sheila curled up on herself, shame and fear surfacing. Mishka nodded and laid a gentle hand on Sheila's arm "Don't touch me!"

"Sheila, you have been abused, but it wasn't your fault." Mishka did not remove her hand. "You had no way of fighting that. No way of escaping. Whatever Stalker did to you..."

" _He_ didn't do it!" Sheila snapped.

"You don't know that." Mishka said quietly. 'And now? You are sympathizing with a clone that Stalker made of me." Sheila just looked at Mishka and then she jerked away from the young Tenno's hand, moving as far from Mishka as she could until she was huddled against the wall. Mishka tried again. "Sheila..."

"If the woman is connected with him in any way, she deserves whatever Sun is doing to her." Sheila said flatly. "That is what everyone is saying, no?"

"Very few noncombatants _deserve_ what Sun does to people, Sheila." Mishka's corrected, her face a little sick. "Thing is, I think you are right. What Janet wants is _wrong_."

"She won't listen to me." Sheila said weakly.

"She is angry, Sheila." Mishka said reasonably. "She was caught flat footed by this along with everyone else. You know she loves you." Sheila nodded, her face miserable and Mishka sighed. "Failing one we love is bad. Not the worst pain imaginable but bad. She feels she failed you."

"I know." Sheila said weakly. "I…. The trauma is still fresh and they had to remove me from my shell." She was crying again and Mishka sidled over to sit beside her. "I know why they had to do it. I am too powerful. They have to nullify the threat. But it hurts, Mishka. It hurts so bad!"

"I know." Mishka hugged the crying girl tight as Sheila poured out her rage and grief in unending salty streams. "Everyone is upset by this, Sheila. From what I understand, the Clergy are royally pissed."

"I bet." The girl sobbed through her tears. "They were so kind to me, Mishka. They didn't need to be. I know it was to control me in a way that didn't require shackles or brainwashing. But that doesn't change the facts. They were kind to me. You have all been kind to me, but… I..."

"We have been kind because we know what it is to be different." Mishka said quietly, holding Sheila as she wiped her face. "Tenno can be just as prejudiced or judgmental as any, but the clan that took you in defines open minded for our kind."

"I know." Sheila managed to calm herself after a few more moments, then scrubbed her face with her arm. "What will they do with.. with me? Will I live as in small squeaky box on the table?" She managed a tiny smile as Mishka groaned.

"You might actually enjoy that a bit too much." The youngest Caretaker said with a grin. "I understand that the Clergy is sending a Medical MOA. One that has been set up to take your box."

"A medical MOA?" Sheila perked up a little at that. She hadn't even looked being able to take control of any and every Corpus technology within range of her sensors. It was just who and what she had been made into. "But...they need to vet me. I.." She swallowed hard. "Sun will need to vet me."

"He won't touch you." Mishka said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "He knows better."

"What?" Sheila asked, confused.

"Sheila, I know you." Mishka said with a nod. "You know that you are hurt. You know that there is mental trauma. You know what needs to be done. The last thing we need is to add _more_ mental trauma. Yes, you will be interrogated. Not by _him._ "

"Then by who?" Sheila asked, fear starting to rise.

"By _us_." Mishka hugged Sheila tight. Sheila stared at her and Mishka smiled. "You need to talk it out anyway and we can take all the time we need to be gentle. It will take some time for them to remove you from your old shell, the fail safes and traps are extensive. So, we will talk."

"Just you and me?" Sheila asked.

"For now. We can add more if you wish, but for now?" Mishka reassured her. "We have a rapport, you and I. This is going to hurt you no matter what, but pulling the feelings out and examining them can help."

"I know." Sheila stared at the floor, only to gasp as Mishka poked her in a sensitive spot. "Hey!"

"I am going to make you smile as much as I can." Mishka warned. "Because when we are done?"

"I want to meet my sister and then I think we will need all the smiles we can get."


	3. Chapter 3

**Breaking Points**

Sheila was not crying now.

She had cried a lot while talking to Mishka and her good friend had done the same. Eventually, the other Caretakers and the mass mind itself had talked to her and Sheila felt a little better. Not much, mind you, but better. She didn't feel as sick as before, and that was a good thing.

But now? She had to face a bad thing.

She stood with Mishka as the virtual world surrounding the pair morphed and twisted. She had no idea how it did so, she was no code or Orokin specialist. She could see some of the changes due to her odd pedigree, but most of her was focused on Mishka and on the butterflies in her stomach. Not that she knew what a 'butterfly' was or had been, but the description of the feeling was still apt.

The room she and Mishka came into was stark and bare. The floor was oddly patterned. The walls and ceiling were white. The only furniture was a bed. Anisette lay on the bed, her limbs strapped down. She wasn't wearing anything, but it was the helmet that covered most of her head except for her face that had Sheila tensing. The woman's eyes were open, but saw nothing. The spiraling things that were strapped in front of her eyes made sure of that, even without the flashes of light that were being fed into them. Low power lasers that were beaming information directly into her brain via her optic nerves. Organic bandages covered parts of her body and Sheila's heart went out to the woman as she saw the tell tale sign of many tears. She hadn't been washed and had been lying in her own filth.

"How is this _right_ in any way?" Sheila demanded tightly. "This is what that witch was doing to me! Altering my mind!"

"Right and wrong don't come into it." Janet's voice preceded the Oracle into view. She still wore the attire that Sheila had seen before and her visible face was set in a grim line. "We are not going to kill her."

"No." Sheila snapped. "You are not that _nice_!" Janet did not react to Sheila's anger as Mishka took a step forward.

"Is she awake?" Mishka asked.

"Yes, but she is not aware." Janet replied. "We have had to move her three times. Stalker keeps seeking her. Odd that."

"It must be part of the plan." Mishka replied even as Sheila moved to stand by Mishka. "But why use a _human_? He had to know how you, Nikis and Sun would react to him trying to program one of your family."

"She doesn't know." Janet replied. "I have looked into her past. She grew up in an isolated colony. There are no landmarks, no way to know where it is. Stalker and his scum get there by teleportation. Less than a hundred souls all told. He found them when they were on the verge of extinction, saved them from that. They call him a hero and to them, he is. They live and he gets manpower. Slick. One of the women bore her when he asked."

"She is a clone." Mishka said flatly.

"Yes." Janet took a deep breath. "I will say this for him, he never lied to her about that. She was made from material taken from you when he had you. Now, as to why?" She shrugged. "He told her that he was using her to save her sister. You."

"That… actually sounds plausible." Mishka said slowly. "A clone _might_ have been a good donor for bone marrow." The cancer she had once suffered from had been hard to detect and treat, but she had recovered from that.

"Maybe." Janet shook her head. "Until we find her body, we won't know how much of what was told her is the truth. Her body will be trapped, but if we can get her to send a signal, we can find that colony. As it is, I can see it, but not its location."

"If she sends a signal, _everyone_ can find her." Shelia protested. "The Grineer, the Corpus..."

"Sheila, they are working with Stalker." Janet was obviously fighting for patience. "All of them."

"And?" Sheila demanded tightly.

"And they hurt you!" Janet snapped, her patience fleeing.

"So you hurt _them_." Sheila replied just as angrily. "Fair enough, it isn't like you are held to a higher standard or anything." Mishka winced at that, but Janet did not react. "So you are rewriting her memory, programming her to obey." The former MOA shook her head. "How does that make you any better than _him?_ "

"I don't do it for a selfish reason." Janet visibly calmed herself. "Sheila, I don't enjoy this. Yes, this is a violation on par with what was done to you."

" _SHE DIDN'T DO IT!_ " Sheila screamed, taking three quick steps towards the bed, only to slam face first into something invisible. She threw up her hands, feeling an invisible wall in front of her. She shook her head as she glared at Janet who shrugged.

"They programmed you, we are programming her." Janet was calm again. Mostly. "You are going back to your body."

"No." Sheila said with a snarl as she slammed a fist into the wall in between her and Anisette. "This is wrong!"

"This is needed." Janet replied and then sighed as one wall came alive. "Don't you ever _learn_ , moron?" She made a tearing gesture.

Stalker had no time to even scream as psionic energy slammed into him before he had fully materialized. His body flew apart even as Mishka gagged. Shelia stared as his helmet landed in front of Mishka and rolled to land face up.

"She...didn't deserve this..." Stalker's voice was a whisper that faded as Janet stepped on the head and it went 'squish' before vanishing.

"She is with _you_." Janet snapped as she shook her foot to clean the mess off it. "Of course she does."

"Janet. Stop." Mishka said with a sigh. "This is too much. You are making me sick and Sheila… You are _driving her away_."

"She wanted to be here when the clone woke." Janet said flatly. "She is."

"Her name is _Anisette_." Sheila said softly, still trying to find a gap in the wall in front of her. There wasn't one. "Isn't it" She asked the Oracle tightly.

"It is." Janet shook her head. "You won't get past that, Sheila."

"I am no match for you psionically." Sheila agreed. "I am not match for Jesse in code or Tenno in power." She turned to the Oracle and her face was set. "But this is _wrong!_ "

"Mom?" A soft, scared voice had all three turning to the bed. Anisette's face were slack but her mouth was moving. "Mom? Are you there?"

"I am here." Janet moved to the bed and took Anisette's hand in her own. "How do you feel?"

"I feel weird." Anisette said weakly. "What did that monster do to me?"

"He hurt you Anisette." Janet crooned. "He hurt you very badly. We are trying to help."

"What?" Sheila gasped. No one seemed to hear her but Mishka who spun to stare at her, eyes wide and face sick. "No..."

"Mom, it hurts." Anisette was crying as Janet held her hand. "Why does it hurt inside? My head hurts. My stomach hurts. Everything _hurts!_ "

"Oh, honey..." Janet's voice was a sea of sadness and sympathy. It was hard to believe she was faking unless you could see her eyes. Anisette could not. "It is going to be all right. We will get you home and it is going to be all right. We need you to show us where you are. We cannot find you."

"No." Sheila begged. "She is making Anisette betray her father!" Mishka swallowed hard and nodded.

"I hate him." Anisette's voice was weak, but rage sang underneath. "I hate him. He hurt me. He lied to me and hurt me."

"Don't give in to your hate, dear Anisette." Janet said sadly. "Don't let him win. Tell us where you are and we will come and get you." Mishka looked away as Anisette tried to comprehend that. "I cannot 'see' you, Anisette. I need to know where you are so I can send help."

"Nothing makes sense now." Anisette complained. "He made me think he is my dad, but you are my mom." Power flared around her and she relaxed. "I… Mom… help. Please."

"I will." The kindness in Janet's voice was in direct counterpoint to the hand that touched the machine, increasing the speed of the flashes of light that were flowing into the woman's eyes. She touched something else and a white viscous looking fluid started through a tube that Sheila hadn't seen. It went into the woman's _ear!_ "Sleep and wake a new person, dear Anisette. A better person."

" _Better?_ " Sheila nearly exploded as she hit the barrier on front of her. Something went crack and pain flared in her hand, but she kept hitting it. Janet ignored her and Anisette obviously couldn't hear her. Mishka did not move, her face a study.

"Ah, _there_ you are. Gotcha, you bastard!" Janet smiled grimly. "Lotus… I have coordinates for you. A human colony."

"Oracle..." The Lotus appeared, her face set in the grim line. "What have you done?"

"We only need her." Janet said with a shrug towards the not-quite unconscious Anisette. "The others? They can stay there and let Stalker do whatever to them. But we need this one."

" _LOTUS! THIS IS WRONG!_ " Sheila screamed.

"I agree with Sheila, Janet." The Lotus said with a snap. "Tenno will extract the girl, quietly if they can, loudly if them must. But _you_ will not have her."

"Lotus." Janet sighed. "She hurt my daughter."

" _Did_ she?" The Lotus asked coldly. "What game are you playing with these souls, Oracle? Iriana will not forgive if you harm Mishka and _Sheila_ will not forgive you for _this_."

"She will be alive and safe. That is enough." Janet turned to looked at Sheila who glared at her. "You will thank me one day, Sheila."

"Maybe." Sheila's felt an overpowering calm descend on her as she walled off her emotions. "But I will _never_ trust you again." At that, Janet actually jerked and stared at the girl. "Lotus, can we go? Please?"

"Yes." The Lotus stepped to where Sheila stood and held out a hand to the girl who took it. Janet stared at Sheila and then at Mishka who turned her back on the Oracle firmly before taking the Lotus' other hand.

The Oracle opened her mouth to say something, but the trio was gone.

Only after the world had solidified again did Sheila let her emotions loose and tears started falling.

"She is _brainwashing_ Anisette." Sheila said weakly. Two sets of arms held her as she sobbed " _Why?_ " She begged plaintively.

"She is angry." The Lotus said sadly. "She has cause. She loves you dearly, Sheila." A hand cupped her hurting one and power flared, soothing the pain away.

"Is she trying to push me away?" Sheila asked angrily. "I know she has to remain aloof, but this…? She is supposed to _help_ humans. Not this."

"I don't know." The Lotus replied after a moment. "The probabilities are unclear. What is clear is that she took it as a _personal_ insult when Stalker and his minions took you. When the one they used hurt you. Even as good as she is, she has limits. Seeing what happened to you pushed her past hers."

"She...saw it?" Sheila asked "She can't if she is too close to a person."

"She couldn't track _you_." The Lotus replied. "I am not sure what she did. She keeps a lot of secrets. What I do know is that as soon as she saw what happened, she flared. I haven't seen her so angry since Rasputin. I do not think _anyone_ has."

"Oracle has a temper." Sheila tried for a joke, but it fell flat. "She is scary like this."

"Yeah." The Lotus agreed. "She is."

Shelia stared up at the masked woman and felt her meager resolve crumble as the visible face that the Lotus showed the universe held sympathy. She cried and couldn't stop crying. The Lotus heaved an all too human sigh as Mishka hugged Sheila tight. She couldn't stop crying and after a time, the Lotus heaved another sigh.

"Sheila needs help, Mishka." The Lotus hugged Sheila gently. "Can you get her back?"

"I can." Mishka promised. "But… Lotus...what do we _do_?"

"For now?" The Lotus hugged Sheila gently again. "Just keep doing what you are doing. Try to keep Sheila comfortable. She is going to hurt when she wakes and it will not be physical. Trying to rush this will hurt her further. Maybe..." She paused as something impinged on her senses.

Sheila jerked as a red and black armored form appeared nearby. _Not_ Stalker! The Acolyte was unarmed and his hands were raised as if in supplication.

"Lotus!" The male form dropped to his knees. "Slay me if you must, but _hear_ me!"

"You have a _death wish?"_ The Lotus snapped, one hand still consoling Sheila, the other coming up. "After what you did to Sheila, you have angered _everyone!_ "

" _We_ didn't do that!" The other said quickly. "We stopped the one that did, but too late. She escaped us. Lotus! Anisette wanted to _help!_ "

"We cannot trust you." Mishka said flatly. "Begone before my allies find you here."

"Shadow Daughter." The man _bowed to her_. "Your father..."

" _I HAVE NO FATHER!_ " Mishka cut him off with a scream, an oddly shaped pistol appearing in her hand. "Begone or die permanently, fool. My patience is at an _end!_ " The misshapen form bowed to her again and vanished. Mishka shook her head. "They are going to keep trying to recruit me, aren't they, Lotus?"

"No." Sheila begged even as Mishka's pistol vanished back to wherever she hid it.

"While you are with the Caretakers, you are safe, Mishka." The Lotus said with a frown. "But away from them? Yes. He will keep after you. There are also Tenno who will seek to target you the same way Janet is targeting Anisette."

"Either way, he wins." Mishka said softly. "Either they kill me and mom is hurt or I kill them and I am hurt. Either way, Tenno die. And he _laughs_."

"I am sorry, Mishka." The Lotus said sadly. "It might be better for you to live full time with the Caretakers and their charges. I know you don't want to."

"I always said that if I change because of fanatics, they win." Mishka said softly. "But I see no other ways to go that do not end in death. Mine or other Tenno. He will not take me alive again." She bowed her head. "I have my duty. Thank you for reminding me of it, Lotus."

"Just like Sheila, you are not alone, Mishka." The Lotus hugged both of the girls again. "You have family and friends who care for you."

"Mishka?" Sheila asked through the tears that were still falling.

"It is all right, Sheila." Mishka said quietly as she hugged the crying girl again. "It is going be all right."

"Scared." Sheila sobbed as the other held her. She felt a shift but this time, she wasn't in a virtual world when she could see again. This time, Mishka's voice came from close at hand. But Sheila wasn't crying now. Indeed, she couldn't feel much of anything. That was an improvement, sort of. Robots didn't have emotions and she envied them sometimes.

"I know." Sheila looked and Mishka stood beside her, hand on the MOA hull that Sheila was inside. The feel of this proxy was different from the one that Sheila had known he whole life. Iriana stood nearby, her face a mask of sorrow and pain.

"Sheila?" Iriana asked slowly. "I… I am sorry."

"I know you had to do it." Sheila managed through whatever was holding her emotions at bay. "I know why. Still hurts."

"It is going to." Iriana said sadly, stepping forward. "When she hurt you, it was inside your mind. It was intended to incite lust. To make you feel the need to hurt and dominate others."

"What?" Sheila was confused. "She hurt me."

"Yes, she did." Iriana agreed. "But the _way_ she did it… Sheila, your body was abandoned by the bloody Corpus butchers who made you. You have never _had_ hormones. You don't know what is happening or why. Just that you are reacting in odd ways now. You cannot stop crying. You are emotional, far more than usual. Your empathy is at full bore and you cannot keep your emotions controlled without help."

"I am hurt." Sheila said weakly.

"Yeah." Iriana was on the verge of tears and Mishka wasn't much better. "That evil witch hit your reptile hind brain with a massive pulse of power and chemicals, Sheila. If it had been physical, we could counter it. It wasn't. In humans, that part of the brain handles all of the basic things. Blood flow, breathing, neural flow… All of that. But it also controls the instinct for reproduction."

"What?" Sheila repeated, stunned almost beyond words.

"I fear you are going to be attracted to people, Sheila." Iriana said softly. "And that will cause problems."

"I… No." Sheila was feeling faint now. "No! That is not _possible_."

"It is physically impossible, yes." Iriana took another step and laid her hand on the MOA housing. "But it is happening."

"I can't procreate in this form!" Sheila was reeling from all of the shocks. Both Mishka and Iriana kept their hands on her.

"I know that." Iriana said sadly. "You know that. Your hind brain _doesn't_."

"Why?" Sheila was crying again even through whatever was holding her emotions. "Why do this to me? What did I do to _her?_ "

"You didn't do anything to her, Sheila." Iriana rubbed the MOA housing gently. "She is insane."

"What do I do?" The MOA from was immune to many things, but emotional shocks came from inside. "Is there _anything_ I can do?"

"Yeah." Iriana said flatly. "There is."

"But you are not going to like it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Insanity is hereditary sometimes**

It was not working. Sheila had promised the Healer to try and she was. She really was. But it was not working.

In concept, the plan was sound. The evil witch who had hurt Sheila had wanted the girl to focus on hurting others, on dominating them. Sheila had seen far too many abuses of power in her time with the Clergy to have _any_ illusions about right and wrong when it pertained to the use of power. She understood far too well the lure of power, the consequences of actions taken to demean others, to turn them from living, breathing sentient people into things. Sheila had no illusions about how many humans reacted to even the slightest touch of real power, the mess with Lis and Vina was only the tip of the iceberg. She had seen far worse while working as a medic with the Clergy. But that was the extent of her exposure to human relationships. She hadn't had any _business_ poking her mechanical nose in when things were going well. That was what counselors were for and Sheila was not one of those.

So, Iriana had wanted her to learn about healthy relationships. What made a relationship healthy and stable. It was not very pleasant reading. Even the best of relationships had their share of messy moments. Miscommunications were a big problem in most of the texts that Sheila had studied. Even with a technological body, she still had to absorb the information the old fashioned way. At least she could download the texts and read the at her leisure. Her memory was as flawless now as as it had been in her old body.

The new body that the Clergy had made for her was based off a medical MOA chassis. Most of those had no weapons or shields and this one was no different in that regard. Its sensors and medical gear were top of the line, but a few of the pieces of equipment were locked to require Iriana's permission to use. That stung, but Sheila understood. Many pieces of medical equipment could be just as dangerous as weapons if used improperly. Heck, the _sensors_ could cause harm if used improperly, but it would take far longer to do that and Iriana was far wiser than many senior medics that Sheila had worked with. The Healer had not provided any manuals. She had wanted Sheila to have to get used to the new body by experience instead of reading. But Sheila had. And now?

Sheila was bored.

She didn't feel any different. She knew this new body now as well as she had her old one. In form, it was mostly the same. Same two long legs, same hull with its disc like sensor housing on top. Same…

She was aware of scrutiny before the other coughed. Sheila turned to see Alicia, the clan's head combat medic, standing at the door to her quarters. Her cell if things went bad. The Tenno medic's Trinity warframe still bore the scars of battle so she must have just returned from the field.

"We need you in medical, Sheila." Alicia said quietly. The MOA could not stiffen like a human could, but she sure tried.

"Is she here?" Sheila asked as she turned from the screens, shutting each down with a thought.

"Yes." Alicia's tone was mild, but there was an undercurrent to her voice that Sheila could not decipher, even with the complex sensors at her disposal. Disquiet? Distrust? Worry? Sheila wasn't sure.

"Is there a problem?" Sheila asked as she passed the door and Alicia fell in beside her, the mismatched pair walking towards the medical wing. It wasn't a long walk, Iriana wanted Sheila close in case anything happened.

"I don't know." Alicia replied, but her tone rang false to Sheila.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Sheila trained her least obvious sensor cluster on the Tenno warrior and Alicia had her hand on her pistol. It wasn't a standard Tenno pistol either. The coherent sound pulses projected by the Sonicor weapon would tear through Sheila's unarmored hull like a hot knife through better. What they would do to Sheila's organic parts didn't bear mentioning.

"How bad? Anyone hurt?" Sheila didn't want to ask that, but she had to. Medical care for the clan was her top priority.

"Everyone who went was hurt." Alicia sighed. "We didn't kill any humans, but not for the lack of their trying. Stalker and all five of his scum showed up."

"Oh my god." Sheila gulped. "And Anisette?"

"Her own people shot her." Alicia said. Sheila paused in mid step and Alicia nodded. "I got to her in time, but they really did not want us taking her. We hurt a bunch of them, Sheila, but we got out without killing any."

"That is good." Sheila said weakly. "Oh, Alicia… what am I going to do? I am messed up inside and..." She broke off as Alicia unbent a little and laid a hand on her sensor disk.

"Sheila, the message that Anisette sent..." Alicia slumped a bit. "There is no easy way to say this. We tracked a Corpus ship and a Grineer flotilla moving towards that colony."

"She led them right to the hidden colony." Sheila gulped again and Alicia nodded. "Oracle has killed them all."

"It hasn't happened yet." Alicia said softly. "The Corpus and Grineer will fight over it. We will have to see what happens."

"If the Grineer win, every human there is dead, Alicia." Sheila snapped. "You know that."

"And if the Corpus win, they will take everyone in the colony to replace their losses." Alicia agreed. "I know."

"This is to punish Stalker and deny him a hiding place." Sheila said with a growl. "Their lives are meaningless."

"We all know you are upset, Sheila." Alicia said in tone that was meant to be soothing. It failed. "We have been fighting him for so long… We do not want to fight humans and he knows it."

"Were any of them sick?" Sheila asked suddenly. Alicia stared at her and Sheila turned her primary sensor cluster to face the warframe. "Could you tell?"

"We were a bit busy trying not to get killed." Alicia said dryly enough that Sheila chuckled and relaxed a bit. "I didn't see anything like that. But like I said, I was busy. We were detected the moment we arrived and under fire minutes later from humans who really did not like us trespassing."

"A trap?" Sheila asked, worry for her friends surfacing.

"I don't know." Alicia said with a sigh. "They really didn't want us taking the girl though. They had her rigged with explosives even after having been shot." Sheila stared at the Tenno, dumbfounded and Alicia nodded. "We jammed the detonator frequency, disabled the detonator and then digitized her. She had been shot three times, once in the head."

"Is… she…?" Sheila gulped and Alicia nodded to the door that lad towards the medical wing.

"She was in stasis for the whole trip. Iriana has her now." Alicia sighed. "But I don't know, Sheila. It looked like Stalker was trying to undo what Oracle did. But his methods are far more primitive."

"I..." Shelia gave her mechanical body a shake and started for the door. "Does Iriana need me?"

"Yes." Alicia replied. "I am to scrub up too. You, me, Jimmy and Iriana." Sheila tensed. That was most of the surgical qualified personnel in the _dojo_.

"It is _that_ bad."

"It is that bad."

* * *

Later

Alicia hadn't been kidding, Sheila mused as she finished closing up the massive tear in Anisette's lower body. But this was odd.

Anisette had been shot three times. Once in the gut, once in the chest and once in the head. But the holes were all different. The head wound should have killed her, but apparently the bullet had been deflected by the skull bone. Odd that. Most modern firearms wouldn't be deflected by such. From the scans Sheila was doing constantly, the bullet only grazed the skull and the brain matter was intact. If it had gone in square, the girl wouldn't have had any brains left. She was very glad Iriana and Jimmy were handling that part of the repairs. She wasn't a neurosurgeon.

"Quadrant four repair complete, Healer." Sheila reported as she played energy from her regenerator over the incision she had made. The bullet that had hit Anisette's lower abdomen had torn several organs apart in passing, but it had missed her spine by a centimeter. The soft tissue injuries were bad, but fairly straightforward to repair, if time consuming. She was grateful that her skills were suited for such. She was a medic, not a surgeon.

"Good work, Sheila." Iriana did not look up from where she was manipulating a tiny probe inside the girl's skull, seeking fragments of bone that had chipped off when the bullet had struck. "This girl should be dead."

"Indeed." Alicia had finished her work quickly, but the Tenno medic was far more experienced in such things than Sheila was. She had remained close in case Iriana or Sheila needed her. "Three times and one in the heart."

She shook her hand and Sheila understood. A bullet in the heart wasn't immediately fatal with modern medicine, but it was no small matter either. Alicia had pulled the small projectile, scanned it for toxins or traps and then carefully regenerated the main fluid pump while machines had bypassed the hurt organ. Sheila hoped she was skilled enough to do that with such apparent ease someday. Then again, she wasn't sure she _wanted_ the wealth of battlefield experience that Alicia could call upon.

"This was three different weapons." Sheila replied. Alicia nodded to her even as Iriana nodded and pushed away from the machinery. "Healer?"

"Done. No more fragments and the bleeding is minimal." Iriana moaned slightly and then stiffened as Sheila ran a beam of energy over her. "Sheila..." She warned.

"My orders from the Warlord are still in effect, Healer." Sheila said quietly. "You are not to push yourself too far. You need to sit down."

It was a _very_ closely guarded secret that Iriana had pushed herself into total systemic collapse some time ago. She had died. The clan and others had brought her back, but _no one_ wanted to go through that again. Sheila still felt pangs of fear on seeing the memory of the Healer pale and still in the ICU, all life signs nonexistent on the monitors. She had never known such fear or relief as when Nikis had swooped in and done... _something_. She still called what the ancient scary Nekros did 'magic' instead of science, but no one minded. They joked about it with her, but no one minded.

"Sheila." _Now_ , Iriana's tone was dangerous, but Alicia stepped up beside the MOA.

"Tiana's orders are clear, Healer." Alicia said quietly. "You have the right to overrule her in any _other_ case." She heavily emphasized the word 'other'. "We cannot lose you. Not again. You need to sit down."

Sheila moved a little so that she almost rubbed up against Alicia's warframe. She didn't feel anything, but clan medic laid a hand one her housing and Sheila knew she was doing the right thing. Iriana groaned heavily, but sat in a chair that had been set up near one wall.

"I..." Iriana looked like she was going to argue for a moment and then she sighed deeply. She turned to the silent cyborg that served as the main nurse for the clan. "Jimmy, get the patient into recovery room three. Full monitoring." She turned back to Alicia as the cyborg started working. "We will need to keep her secure until we can scan her mind. She will not be strong enough for that for a day. Maybe two."

"I will stay with her." Sheila offered and both of the others glared at her. "Hey! It minimizes resource use. You have to secure one room, not two."

"And if she is trap for _you_?" Iriana demanded, her tone angry. Then she paused and slumped. "I am sorry, Sheila. This is..."

"This has to be some kind of trick." Sheila said quietly. "No one I know of would shoot a woman in the head like that and _not_ kill her."

"True." Alicia mused. "Have you heard from the Clergy?"

"No." Sheila made a sour noise. "And that worries me."

It wasn't common knowledge that the Corpus Clergy shared a connection very similar to a technological telepathy. Every member of the Clergy was linked to every other member. It had been hard for them to accept Sheila at first, but once she had been made welcome, it had been a heavenly experience. She hadn't heard from them since her initial mental abduction. She worried that whatever the witch had done to her had either broken the connection or damaged it somehow. Either way, until she spoke to a Clergy member, she was stuck. Zacharias might have been able to tell her what was going on, but he had been called away. Coincidence? She didn't think so. Kat -Iriana's mate- had been sent away as well.

"Did you finish the texts I gave you?" Iriana asked, slumping in her chair. Sheila scanned her again and Iriana hissed at her. "Stop that! Yes, I am tired. No, I am not falling apart."

"I am following orders, Healer." Sheila said quietly. "And yes, I did. But..."

"But they do not make a great deal of sense to you." Iriana finished when Sheila broke off.

"I saw the bad, Healer." Sheila said weakly. "I won't do that. I won't!"

"Sheila, no one can be strong all the time." Alicia reassured her. "Not human, not Tenno, not MOA, no one. Everyone has off days, dark moment and thoughts. Thing is, we medics have far more ways to hurt people than many would think."

"I know." Sheila said in a tiny voice. The witch who had hurt her had been cloned from a brilliant mental healer. "Far easier to hurt than to heal."

The two female Tenno shared a long look and then Iriana sighed.

"It _is_ easier to secure one room than two." The Healer was quiet, sad. "I feel responsible for this girl even though I know that is crazy. She isn't mine. She was made from mine."

"What the Oracle did to her..." Sheila said slowly as the others looked at her. "...was _wrong._ The Oracle made her betray the only family she knew. How can she handle such? Will we tell her?"

"For now, we do what we do." Iriana said heavily. "We heal her wounds, ease her into recovery. We vet her, make sure she is not a threat. Sun says there are no programs inside her mind and I believe him."

"Except whatever _he_ put there." Sheila muttered darkly. Neither of the others corrected her because it was nothing but the truth. The Grandmaster of Tenno Interrogators was _not_ a nice person.

"Okay." Iriana took a deep breath and then blew it out. "Sheila, are you up to staying with her? When is your next downtime?"

"Four hours, Healer." Sheila replied instantly. Iriana jerked and then stared at the chrono. The quartet had been working on Anisette for six hours.

"Time flies, huh?" Iriana asked nobody in particular. "So, four hours and you get relived."

"All I need is a charging station." Sheila offered. "I know Ric made a mobile one that can plug into the wall."

"So you will _sleep_ in the room with someone who had been brainwashed?" Alicia could not keep the derision from her tone. If she even _tried_.

"Well, when you put it like _that_..." Sheila replied hotly.

"Girls." Iriana raised a hand and both shut up. "I need rest, Alicia needs rest. You need rest too, Sheila. If you go too long without downtime, your organic parts will start to suffer."

"I know." Sheila said weakly. "But I want to help her."

"You are." Iriana heaved a final sigh and then stood. "I am for bed. Alicia, set up a guard rotation with the Warlord. Sheila has the first watch, then she goes for downtime." The Trinity warframe nodded. The MOA couldn't nod, but she made a noise of affirmation. "Sheila, I know you are good. But Stalker is sneaky as hell. He _defines_ it." Old pain, old sorrow sang in her tone and Sheila made noise of sympathy.

Stalker had lied to Iriana a long time ago, formed a relationship with her and fathered a child. Then he had left and she hadn't known who or what he was. Not until recently. The revelations of who Mishka's dad was were still rocking Tenno society, hence the girl being hidden away with the Caretakers.

"Every passive sensor will be at max, Healer. Rest well." Sheila promised. "If anyone hears from the Clergy, please tell me?" She pleaded as she turned towards the recovery room where the girl was sleeping.

"We will." Alicia promised as she stepped to where Iriana was weaving on her feet. "Come on healer, Your bed is calling you." Iriana smiled at Sheila and let the Trinity led her for the bay.

By the time Sheila was at the door to the room, Jimmy was on his way out. He sent a datastream to her and she perused it quickly. The girl was asleep and would wake in a few hours. She would be in pain and Sheila was authorized to medicate her if needed. Sheila checked for allergies instinctively and found nothing out of the ordinary. For a clone, the girl was incredibly well formed genetically. Almost as if…

She had a bare moment to squeak as the door shut behind her and two pairs of armored hands clamped onto her housing. She was suddenly cut off from _everyone_! She screamed, but no sound came out of her housing!

"We don't have a lot of time." Stalker said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Thank you for helping save my daughter's life."


	5. Chapter 5

**Allies of _inconvenience_**

Sheila's first thought was to panic.

Her second thought had her freezing in place. Her sensors did not detect anyone in front of her even though Stalker stood there, eyeing her. So, either he was spoofing her systems better than anyone else ever had... Or he wasn't really there. Which stood to reason, this was a Tenno _dojo_. The security here was _insane_.

"What do you want?" Sheila managed to channel just a hint of Jesse's snark into her tone even as fear swept through her again.

"What do _I_ want?" Stalker asked, to all appearances surprised by her tone. She couldn't see who was holding her but from the armor, they were warframes. Or Acolytes. She bet on Acolytes. "Are you _serious_? You know what I want."

"You _do_ realize that if this is not a mental projection of some kind, then whoever you sent here is dead, right?" Sheila worked hard to stay calm. It was hard. It seemed to work, or at the very least throw Stalker off his game, whatever that was. "Kidnapping me was a bad idea even _before_ your psychotic clone hurt me."

"You have nothing to fear from me, child." Stalker said quietly. "You never did."

"Yeah. _Right_." Sheila retorted. "Pull the _other_ one, asshole. Hurting people is what you _do_."

"Medic Sheila. We did hurt you." Stalker said with a sigh. "That was _not_ my intent, but it happened. We wanted to talk to you, not that. Never that. There are limits even to my vengeance. I hurt the one who did it but she fled." Sheila just looked at him and he sighed. "Can we start over, please? I am not really here and no one is actually physically holding you down."

"Figured." Sheila snapped. "So what do you _want?_ I will never help you."

"Never is a very long time. You are in no danger, but if you sound an alarm, Anisette _will_ be." Stalker replied. "When she hurt you, the doc laid bare certain sections of your mind. It was not what I ordered, but it will work. You will help us. You cannot hide from us or escape us. You are not Tenno to be able to change your mental energy."

Sheila just looked at him and did not speak.

"I did not want to hurt you." Stalker said flatly. "I _d_ _o_ not want to hurt you. I need your help."

"I cannot trust anything you say." The MOA replied, her tone about as warm as an ice cube.

"I know." Was Stalker _sad?_ "Misery. Now."

Sheila felt pain flare. It seemed to come from her organic bits instead through her hull. She jerked in whatever was holding her, but it held her tight. It seemed to be driving deep into her mind. She tried to scream, but her voice didn't seem to work. She screamed for help insider her mind, but no one seemed to hear her. Whatever was happening was boring into her _mind_. She tried to struggle, but she was...

It was…

Music slammed into her and she was carried away by it.

* * *

"Sheila, are you all right?" Alicia's worried voice jerked Sheila out of her doze.

The MOA jerked but checked her patient first as she had been trained. Anisette slept on, her face untroubled by the pain she would feel when she woke. The MOA relaxed as she saw that and then turned to where Alicia stood in the doorway. She had a momentary disconnected feeling, but it passed quickly and she focused on the now.

"Oh damn, I nodded off." Sheila said weakly. "I… No excuse, Tenno Alicia."

"Oh, don't _start_ the formality, girl. I think if _anyone_ in this place has an excuse to be feeling off right now, _you_ do." Alicia stepped in, did her own check of Anisette and then relaxed. "You will need more downtime and you will need some other help."

"I know. I will talk to Brianna." Sheila promised. "Is she on shift now?"

"No." Alicia replied. "It has only been an hour since you came in and the sensors have been quiet." She looked at Anisette. "This one is resting comfortably."

"This is so wrong, Alicia." Sheila moved to Anisette's bedside and played her sensors over the sleeping woman. "At least they didn't molest her."

"They didn't have _time_." Alicia's tone had a dark tinge now. "Humans have been endlessly inventive about hurting each other since the dawn of their recorded history. Tenno can be vicious, but we are rarely cruel simply for the sake of _being_ such."

"My shift is not done and I am awake, Tenno Alicia." Sheila turned to look at the Trinity warframe. "I want to help her. That is not good, is it?"

"You are fixating." Alicia's tone was utterly neutral. "That in and of itself is not bad. You know this." Sheila couldn't nod, but she bobbed her chassis in an approximation of such.

"But I will be distracted." Sheila agreed. "I… What will happen to her now?"

"I don't know." The Trinity admitted. "She has been interrogated. She is not our enemy, but she is also not our friend. What Janet did to her..." She broke off as Sheila snarled.

"Was _wrong!_ " The MOA snapped and then paused as Anisette moaned a little in her sleep. "Sorry, Anisette, sorry." A beam of energy played out from Sheila's emitter housing and Anisette gave a small sigh and fell back into a deep sleep. Sheila checked the woman's vitals for a moment before relaxing. "I am angry and I am rebounding. I shouldn't stay."

"You cannot hurt her, Sheila." Alicia reassured the somewhat distraught MOA. "You should be here when she wakes. She will be very confused at the very least."

"She will be _terrified_." Sheila corrected. Alicia nodded. "Could this be some kind of long term plan, Alicia?"

" _Anything_ could be a long term plan, Sheila." Alicia shrugged expressively. "We cannot let doubt paralyze us. We all know that you are hurting Not all of us understand the why but we do all stand with you, Sheila. Never doubt that."

"You have all been very kind to me." Sheila slumped a bit, her hull sinking towards the floor. "I have done my best to help the Healer."

"Your best is pretty darn good, Sheila." Alicia had a smile in her voice now. "You can stay or go as you wish. Vina and Mercedes wanted to talk to you." Sheila paused at that. She had forgotten her human friends. "Get ready for pampering."

"They are… um..." Sheila had to chuckle at that but it wasn't that funny. Vina and Mercedes were both very strong willed. They were also kind and empathetic when they could be. But… When they got into a _mothering mood_ , sane people _ran_. "What are they going to do to my _hull_?"

"I am not sure." Alicia admitted. "But Mercedes asked Ric for paint."

" _Paint?_ " Sheila gulped and Alicia nodded. "Oh dear."

"I don't know what they planned but Mercedes is feeling every day now. She needs distractions." Alicia moved to Anisette's bedside and waited. "You can stay here if you wish."

"That will just give them more time to figure out sneaky things to do to me." Sheila heaved a soft groan. "I do apologize for nodding off."

"Iriana was monitoring." Alicia said with a shrug. "She told me to wait a bit. You need the rest."

"She never stops healing does she?" Awe sounded in the MOA's voice as she moved towards the door. "You are my relief?" Alicia nodded.

"I am." Alicia confirmed. "I relieve you."

"I stand relieved." Sheila wasn't sure where the protocol for such things had come from. It wasn't in any medical text she had ever studied. But it worked when they had a patient that they did not want to leave alone for any length of time for whatever reason. "I will set up an appointment with Brianna for when her next shift starts."

"Don't rush." Alicia warned. "You know what can happen when people push these things."

"I do." The MOA's tone was quiet as she moved to the door.

She had seen any number of horrific situations while working with the Clergy. So many hurting or broken beings had come through the hospital where she had worked. Many of them, she and the other medics had helped and that was a good thing. Some had simply been too hurt to save though and their losses would eat at her for the rest of her existence. She pushed them out of her mind to remain functional, but every so often, she was reminded. A few of the ones she had helped had wanted to push themselves past their limits in recovery and relapsed, a few of them badly. Sheila knew her limits. She also knew that Iriana would _not_ be happy if she hurt herself.

Outside the door, the medical ward was quiet. Stood to reason. Iriana was probably resting. Most of the rest of the staff were out and about. Zacharias and Kat were both working on something away from the medical ward while the girl who had been Stalker's was here. The Clergyman was a good soul and well versed in many medical fields, but his empathy made it hard for him to focus when friends were hurt. He counted Sheila a friend and had likely not taken her situation well. Kat… would be a problem if Stalker saw him. Considering that he had started as a _copy_ of Stalker? No, that wouldn't end well at all.

Sheila worked hard to control a sigh and started for her quarters. She had been gifted the room as soon as she had arrived. It wasn't much. Indeed, most of the Tenno in the place called it a closet when they were being _kind_. They had tried three times to give her a larger room and she had always demurred. She didn't need more than a cubby with a charging socket. She was…

Wait a second! Why was her HUD showing a waypoint to a different room? She tried the door to her quarters and the locking mechanism blinked red at her, still sealed.

"What?" Sheila asked nobody as she stared at the door. The waypoint blinked. It wasn't far. Less than a hundred meters. She gave her hull a shake and started off. Whatever Mercedes and Vina were doing, it would happen soon, she was sure. Her friends were nothing if not inventive at ways of trying to make the girl in robot form laugh.

The medical MOA paused outside the door that the waypoint led to and braced herself. Then she stepped to the door and it opened. She stepped through, ready for anything, but nothing happened.

The room was large and comfortably appointed. There was a charging cubby for her as well as two chairs, a table and a desk. Two doors led away from the room in other directions and Sheila paused, her sensors sweeping around. Nothing looked out of place except the fact that there was a charging station here now.

One of the other doors hissed open and Sheila waited, but nothing came out. She sighed.

"Do I want to know what will happen when I step through that door?" Sheila called.

"Nothing bad." Vina appeared in the door and smiled at Sheila who stayed put. "Sheila, you need help. We are offering."

"I need to remain detached, Administrator." Sheila took refuge in the formality. She wasn't really comfortable with humans emotions and societal norms. She had no idea how to handle most of them.

"Maybe, medically speaking, a sense of detachment is a good thing." Vina said quietly, also not moving. "But you are not a robot, Sheila, no matter your physical form. Especially after what was done to you."

"I..." Sheila froze as Vina stepped from the room Mercedes at her heels. Both woman made a beeline for Sheila who took a fast step back. The door behind her did not open! Before she could react to that, Vina and Mercedes were both hugging her hull. Mercedes was fighting tears.

 _Can you hear me?_ Mercedes asked into Sheila's mind. _No! Don't respond aloud! He cannot hear you like this. He can if we speak aloud._

 _What?_ Sheila asked the same way, confused.

 _Stalker invaded your mind when you went to see Anisette._ Vina's mental tone was fiercely protective as she hugged Sheila tighter. Sheila felt terror blossom, but both women hugged her again. _We stopped him, Sheila, but we do not know how he did it._

 _He is using me._ Sheila pleaded. Both women nodded as they held her housing. _You… No. I cannot…_

 _Sheila._ This wasn't either woman. No. This was the Reverend Mother of the _Clergy!_ The former Tenno that Sheila had been cloned from! _Be calm, daughter. We are with you._

 _Mom…Reverend Mother._ Sheila was sobbing in her mind as both women held her. _I am sorry._

 **Nothing** _that has happened is your fault, Sheila._ The Reverend Mother said firmly. _But when you go for downtime again, he will act against you. Or the clone will. The pathways are laid bare from what I can see._ Sheila would have crumpled if she had possessed flesh and blood legs, but she couldn't without crushing her friends. _I don't think the Tenno can help you. This is a human matter. And if they realize that Stalker has an open path into your mind, they will sequester you._

 _Would that be a_ **bad** _thing?_ Sheila snapped.

 _Sun would do the sequestering._ The Reverend Mother wasn't fazed at all by Sheila's emotion. Sheila gulped. Few beings terrified her as badly as the interrogator did.

 _Ah, yeah. Bad then._ The MOA wilted and both human women hugged her again. _What do I_ **do** _? I want to help Anisette, but… If I am… corrupted…_ She trailed off as both humans hugged her again and the Reverend Mother soothed her mentally.

 _I don't know what will happen, Sheila._ The Reverend Mother sounded old and tired now. _But know that whatever happens, you will not face it alone. We are with you._

A feeling surrounded Sheila. A feeling of belonging. A sense of individual minds, each with their own needs and wants that were from far too many people to sense each at once. But it wasn't bad. No. Her own needs and wants meshed in and all of the assembled minds took bits of each problem to tend. She took her own share. It was a closely guarded secret and one of the most powerful weapon in the Clergy's arsenal. It wasn't infallible but it was a good thing. Not all of the Clergy liked each other, but every member understood exactly what was required and why. They had seen far too much of the worst of humanity and others. They had to stand strong to counter it even with all of the new allies they had now. Tenno could not be everywhere. Neither could the Clergy, but together, they were far stronger and more capable than apart. The alliance was almost the purest possible expression of the ancient term 'gestalt', a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.

 _Thank you._ Sheila relaxed for the first time in quite a while. _Reverend Mother… I… What the Oracle did…_

 _I know. And you are right. What she did was evil._ The spokeswoman of the Clergy said quietly. _Humans do the darndest things for those we love, Sheila. She loves you as much as we do._

 _But she doesn't remember me!_ Sheila protested.

 _You really think that is going to stop her?_ Vina asked snidely as she hugged Sheila's chassis again.

 _Reverend Mother…_ Mercedes interjected softly. _Is it possible that Stalker loves Anisette?_

 _It is possible._ The Reverend Mother sounded a bit miffed. _He did go to extreme lengths to save Mishka's life and Iriana says that he did love her once._ _So he was capable of it. Once. Now?_ She sighed. _I don't know, Mercedes. It is possible._

 _It is also possible this is all a trick._ Sheila replied. _That this is some way to enslave me. Turn me into a spy or saboteur._

 _Yeah._ The sympathy in the Reverend Mother's voice would have brought tears to Sheila's eyes if she had possessed them. _You need downtime now, Sheila but you will not sleep alone._

 _And if he or the clone takes control?_ Sheila asked. _I don't want to hurt my friends._

 _You are not the one who is going to get hurt._ A new voice sounded across the link and Sheila went still as Sister Harriet's tone registered. The woman was showing emotion! Sheila felt fear rise, but Harriet chuckled a little. _I am better, child. Not recovered, but better._

 _I am glad, Sister Harriet._ Sheila relaxed.

 _You will need to talk to either Medic Brianna or another mental healer. Soon._ Harriet warned. _Iriana is too close, she cannot remain detached. She would try, but she would not be able to remain unemotional._

 _Brianna may not be able to either._ Sheila admitted. _She is a friend. I… I do need help. I am afraid._

 _We know._

Sheila did not resist as Mercedes and Vina led her towards the charging station. It was not the same as a standard Corpus MOA station. It would hold her hull immobile, allowing the automation to check her out and let her organic parts rest. She stared as the housing opened and the interior was not standard either! It had been painted a soothing green/blue shade that calmed Sheila even as she was led to it.

"We will be here." Vina promised as Sheila stepped into the enclosure and turned around, letting the mechanical arms take hold of her hull. "You are part of our family and our family does not abandon each other."

"I know." Sheila gave a squeak as Mercedes bent down to kiss her hull. "Mercedes?"

"Rest well, sister." The human said with a smile as she stepped back to let the enclosure snap shut. "I know you will think you owe us. So… I will draft you for babysitting."

Sheila was laughing as the door snapped shut and she was catapulted into darkness.

Then she was on her knees in human form on a hard surface. She wasn't wearing anything. She stared up at Amelia Priosa's face. The clone wore a garment that left little to the imagination. A predatory grin that never would have graced the real Amelia's face gaped as Sheila gasped in fear and shock.

"Welcome home, girl. Time to have some fun."


	6. Chapter 6

**Doors**

Sheila was praying.

She didn't know how long she had been in this hellish place. She couldn't move, the bindings that held her to the hard surface were far beyond her ability to break. She couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear anything. The clone had taken great pleasure in covering her eyes and her ears. The…

The feelings came again and Sheila fought back the only way she could. She did not resist, there was no point in it. She simply willed herself not to react to the feelings that seeped through her whole body. It was hard though. She felt…

It was so hard. She gasped again as the touches came again and she screamed into the thing that had been forced into her mouth. She had known, intellectually, the mechanics of what the evil doc was doing. The clone was stimulating certain parts of Sheila's body. But Sheila was more confused by the sensations than aroused. She hadn't ever imagined the true depth of the sensations and she shied away from them even as they tore through her. But she was weakening. She could feel her will fraying, loosening her grip on lucidity.

The _only_ upside? She wasn't facing this horror _alone_.

 _Damn her!_ Vina's snarl echoed through Sheila's mind. _Damn her to hell! Sheila, hold on! We are trying to shunt the impulses through another quadrant. She keeps shifting her attacks though._

 _Tell me Mercedes isn't feeling this!_ Sheila begged. Just the thought of a heavily pregnant woman suffering this turned Sheila's nonexistent stomach.

 _She wanted to._ The Reverend Mother's voice was angry. _But none of us wanted to take the chance. We overruled her. She is asleep and will not dream._

 _Good._ Sheila gasped as the sensations ended. She knew that wouldn't last. _I… I cannot keep this up, Reverend Mother._

 _I know, Sheila._ The Reverend Mother sighed. _You do not have the training to resist such. No human has the stamina to do so and at your core, you are human._

 _I…_ Sheila felt her resolve harden. _Reverend Mother. How long has it been?_

 _Sheila…_ Vina sounded near to tears. There was no reply from the Reverend Mother.

 _Please?_ Sheila begged. _How long has she been doing this to me?_

 _Seventeen minutes_ _real world time_ _._ Harriet's tone spoke volumes about her disgust and fear for Sheila _. What she is doing is crude. Far more crude than it needs to be. I think she is deriving satisfaction from her actions. That is the only_ _possible_ _explanation for this. This horror. She has to be using you to sate herself._

 _I… I can't keep doing this, Harriet!_ Sheila was crying and many minds soothed her. _I will do what I must._ _I am sorry. Please. Remember me._ A horrified gasp swept through the massed minds around her.

It was well known by many that holding Clergy operatives was next to impossible. They suicided on capture. What was not known was that it was _voluntary_. Like all members of the Clergy, Sheila had been trained to die at will, but as long as there was a chance for rescue or escape, she did not want to die. It had taken quite a bit to get past her depression, but she had.

 _Sheila…_ Vina's tone was sick now. _No!_

 _She has_ **all night** _in real world time to twist me!_ Sheila pleaded. _I can't hold out. Vina, I can't._

 _Sheila._ Vina's tone combined pain, grief, loss, sadness, horror, anger. All of these and so many more.

 _Sheila, we can help you._ _We can buffer you from this._ The Reverend Mother said gently.

 _At what_ **cost** _? How many_ _that I love_ _must suffer with me?_ Sheila said weakly as a new sensation came from between her legs. _AH! No! No, I choose… to shield my family._ She began the sequence she had been taught.

 _Sheila stop!_ Vina begged. _We can tell the Tenno. They will help!_

 _I love you, Vina._ Sheila said sadly as she finished the sequence. But instead of oblivion, the coverings over her ears crackled and a hated voice sounded.

"Leaving so soon? Oh, girl, you have no idea what you are missing." The lust filled voice of the clone dripped fake sympathy. Sheila screamed into the gag as energy arced through her upper body. "Did you really think I would let you go so easily?"

 _NO!_ The gut wrenching scream came from the entire Clergy as Sheila felt energy play into her head. A solid wall of music slammed the invading energy away and the voice of Sheila's tormentor turned acidic.

"They cannot protect you forever, girl." The clone said with a snarl as something hot traced Sheila's immobilized left foot. She couldn't move away from it, she couldn't even twist. "You will learn to enjoy this. You and I will have so much fun together."

 _Never._ Sheila said weakly as the hot object pressed into her foot. She screamed as the pain increased and then increased again.

But then, something happened. The hot object vanished. The pain in her foot spiraled up and up and up, through her leg and into her body. But then it faded as if it had never been. She was… Sheila awaited for the next pain or hated touch, but nothing happened.

 _What the-?_ Sheila hated the whine in her tone, but no one commented. _What is she doing?_

 _She is probably waiting to see how you react._ Harriet sounded calm now, but Sheila knew better. The woman was furious. _The woman she was cloned from was no novice, but this one doesn't seem to have all of Amelia's knowledge. Which is a good thing._

 _I wouldn't have lasted this long._ Sheila said weakly.

 _No._ Harriet sighed. _Sheila. You know that hurting is always easier than healing. The mind is no different from the body. She wants something from you and she apparently does not want you insane._

Whatever Sheila was going to say was cut off as something sharp pressed into the flesh of her left arm. She fought to control herself as pain flared and warm wetness seeped down her arm.

 _ **ENOUGH!**_ The mental shout was so loud that Sheila recoiled away from it. It wasn't a voice she knew. Was it?

 _Everything_ changed. Sheila lay on a floor, still uncovered. She couldn't move. But she was surrounded by six pairs of armored legs. All of the legs faced the doctor who had hurt her. She was still bleeding and she hurt in so many places. The Clergy was with her, but...dimmed. She could feel them, but not hear them.

"You wanted her." The clone of Amelia didn't see fazed by this development. "You have her. May I go now?"

"No." Stalker's tone was cold and hard. "Run if you want. Do that and I will show the Oracle where you are. I will _help_ her track you. This girl did nothing to us. _Nothing!_ "

"She works with the False. You wanted her." The clone shrugged. Then she was hanging in mid-air, held there by a red and black armored glove. "You...got what you...wanted." She gasped out past the armored fingers tightening on her throat.

" _This is not what I wanted!_ " Stalker screamed. "I kill humans when I _must_. Not _this_. _Never_ this!"

"Don't preach to me, slayer." The clone managed. "You kill because you enjoy it. Well, I enjoy other things."

"I kill to avenge Orokin." Stalker's voice was a terrible thing now. "You? You simply don't _know_ any better. How many humans have you broken like this?"

"Too many to count." The clone said offhand as she pried the fingers away for a moment, but then another armored fist slammed into her gut and she hung there, wheezing. The fist hit her again and again. But she was smiling? "Hit me again. I _like_ pain."

"Do you?" Stalker asked. "Misery?"

Sheila stared as a pair of the armored legs stepped to where the doctor hung in mid-air. Evil, reddish brown energy seeped towards her and Sheila jumped as the clone screamed. Then she started to _cry_.

"No!" The clone begged. "No! Give it back! _I need the pain!_ "

"No." Stalker said savagely. "We are going to sequester your mind in a nice, quiet, _safe_ hole for a couple of real world days. You won't be able to hurt yourself, escape or die." To Sheila's amazement, the evil clone was begging, pleading. No one as much as acknowledged the pleas. "We will have a talk in a few days. Torment. You know where."

Sheila was reeling as another pair of boots moved to the doc. They and the clone vanished in a haze of reddish brown energy. She could feel the Clergy's consternation, but she still could not hear them as an armored hand shifted her a little. She stared up at four evil parodies of warframes and the sinister form of Stalker himself.

"Malice?" Stalker's tone was calmer. Sheila felt fear as one of the warframes knelt beside her, but the touch was gentle, clinical as the not-Tenno checked her vitals. The scan that came from it was a general diagnostic, one she had used hundreds of times.

"A paralytic agent mixed with psi blockers." The voice from the kneeling form was wrong in so many ways. "Physically, she is..." He paused and then heaved a sigh. "You see."

"I do." Stalker knelt down beside Sheila as well. "As angry as Oracle was _before_? We are in deep shit, my children. I am amazed she hasn't already come here and hurt us again. Can you neutralize the paralytic?"

"Not safely." Malice said quietly. "There are too many variables here. Too many ways the clone could have done it. The girl can hear and feel, she just cannot move."

Sheila knew that was true. So many drugs had different side effects when used improperly or in conjunction with other drugs. She had seen patients die as a result far too many times. Odd that she and one of Stalker's Acolytes shared such knowledge.

"We can turn her easily now." Another of the forms said in a tight voice, only to freeze as Stalker laughed. It was a sound completely without humor. "Master! We can."

"And when Oracle Janet discovers that? _Then_ what?" Stalker asked dryly. "Did you _like_ being _rent_ limb from limb so many times, Mania? _I_ didn't. And what is worse? She was holding _back_." A visible shudder went through every single warframe Sheila could see. "We have no chance against her even when she doesn't call Nikis in. This one..." His hand came down to touch Shelia's shoulder. "This one is an innocent, as the Oracle said."

Sheila tried to writhe away from the touch, but she couldn't. Stalker retracted his hand. He touched her arm where it was throbbing and then he hissed.

"The doctor started her changes." Malice said softly. "Master…"

"It is not in our nature to help." Stalker said quietly. "But if we do not at least try to help this girl, Oracle Janet will make good on her threat to destroy us and all of our hideaways. She does _not_ make idle boasts."

"She would kill _thousands_." Another of the forms exclaimed.

"And what do you think _I_ would do for Anisette, Mishka or Iriana, Violence?" Stalker asked as he bent down and scooped Sheila up. "Love makes us all do strange things. Mishka and Iriana hate me, but they are of me. Iriana will take care of Anisette. This one though… I do not think they can help her. At least, not yet." He gave himself a shake that Sheila could feel. "Medic Sheila, you have no reason to trust, many reasons not to. But the doctor who hurt you did something to your mind. It is deep and subtle. I have no doubt that Iriana would try to help you, but if it is as I fear, then what was injected into your virtual code is a virus of sorts. Maybe a Cyberlancer would find and neutralize it. Maybe not. I don't know. What I _do_ know is that if I send you back as you are, you will wake up screaming. In any case, you may infect anyone who touches you. Iriana would rush to your side and I cannot allow that. So, we will quarantine you for now and I know just the place for someone who has been hurt like you have been."

Sheila was praying hard as she was carried. She was still praying as an armored hand entered her vision and a green mist carried her into dreams.

* * *

An indeterminate time later

Sheila woke on a bed. For a long moment, she just lay there, confused. She cracked her eyes and was even more confused. She wasn't in a virtual world now. She was…

She stared down at herself and her body looked as it had in the virtual world. Even her arm was bandaged. But it _wasn't_ virtual! She stared at herself and then around. The room was...odd. There were no windows and it had the feel of a medical ward, but not any she had ever seen. For a moment, she felt a pang of fear, she couldn't sense the Clergy at all! But that faded long with her need to try and figure out why.

She was lying on a bed that was at the same time primitive looking _and_ high tech. The tech wasn't anything she knew. The markings she could see were in a language that was similar to a few of the Earth languages she had studied in Clergy training, but it was different as well. She sat up slowly and looked around. The room screamed 'recovery room' to her trained senses, but the technology wasn't anything she had ever seen. The lights were not any form of illumination she had seen, the floor and walls were… Wait...

There was one door to the room and on it, a symbol was inscribed. Not a symbol she knew. It was almost a triangle, but both vertical surfaces curved a little and the top point was chopped off. Two steely gray arcs/chevrons/something surrounded a familiar image. Earth. This wasn't a symbol she had ever seen before, but now that she was looking, she could see variations of it everywhere. On the monitor beside her bed, on an odd thing that looked like half a terminal on a short desk nearby, on a tray that sat on a what looked for all the world like an ancient rolling table used by hospitals in Earth's distant past. The symbol was everywhere! But she didn't know it.

Sheila tried to shift her legs off the bed and they wouldn't move. She jerked and then forced herself to relax. She focused on what she could feel and realized that her legs were numb, as if the blood flow had been impeded. She reached down to touch her left thigh and reassured when she felt blood flow through the artery there. She could feel her fingers on her leg and let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. Whatever was wrong with her legs, she wasn't paralyzed.

She quickly cataloged the rest of her body and the only other oddity besides her arm was her throat. It was bandaged, but it did not hurt. There was something odd about the bandages. She couldn't figure out what it was. They felt both right and wrong to her when she rubbed them. She was wearing a patient gown that was also subtly wrong. This was very odd and she was...

Sheila jerked as the door hissed open. It didn't open like any door she had ever seen, but that was dismissed as a dark haired human woman stepped in carrying a tray that steamed. She walked stiffly, oddly as if she wasn't entirely sure of her balance. But she smiled as she saw Sheila looking at her.

"Good morning, Sheila. My name is Doctor Jennifer Solinus." The woman set the tray on the table nearby and nodded to Sheila' as the girl tried to gather herself. "I know you are confused. You were a mess when they brought you in. I really hope they catch whoever did that to you." Anger shone for a moment in the human's eyes but Sheila relaxed. She was angry for Sheila, not _at_ her. Sheila opened her mouth, but the doctor raised a hand. "Your voicebox was damaged, Sheila. The man who brought you in and left you with us left some things. One is a tablet for you to use." She knelt down and picked up a bag of some kind. It too was blazoned with the image that Sheila did not know.

The woman did something to the tablet and Sheila's eyes went huge as a holographic keyboard appeared over the tiny device. The doctors nodded and then stepped to Sheila's bedside, laying it beside her hand.

"I know you have a lot of questions, Sheila." The woman said with a kind smile. "We have some for you. It is not every day a girl is brought to our emergency center having been _tortured_." Her smile faltered as Sheila winced. "We can help you girl, but the authorities will want to know what happened too. They take a _dim_ view to people doing such."

Sheila stared at the tablet. It was fairly straightforward, but the language was odd. After two false starts, she started typing.

'What is my condition? Injuries? Prognosis?' Sheila typed. The doctor beamed at her.

"He said you were a nurse." The smile faltered and the doctor heaved a sigh. "Then again, that is not always such a good thing. Doctors and nurses make the _worst_ patients." Sheila made an innocent face and the doctor actually laughed. "Oh, don't _try_ , girl. I know the type."

'How bad?' Sheila typed.

"Bad." Doctor Jennifer nodded as Sheila relaxed a bit more. "Good news is that you are not paralyzed. Bad news is that we cannot figure out why your leg nerves are not responding to commands from your brain. The rest of your injuries are fairly straightforward if evil. They will be time consuming to fix, but we will manage. Your throat will be the trickiest, but you _wil_ l be able to talk again." She promised.

'Where am I?' Sheila asked, bracing herself. Jennifer paused and Sheila underlined her words. 'Where am I?'

"You are aboard the Alliance Frigate Agincourt." Jennifer said quietly. "We are half way to the Citadel."

 _WHAT?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Fancy**

Sheila was more than a bit bemused by all of this.

Here she was, in a medical bay on a ship that she didn't know, run by a group of humans that she didn't know. She couldn't feel the Clergy and she had no idea where she was. She couldn't move her legs or talk. She should have been terrified.

She wasn't.

The human woman who called herself Jennifer was both kind and rock hard at the same time. She had a wicked sense of humor but knew when not to use it. Sheila had been so shocked by this sudden turn of events that she had barely noticed the odd green glow that came from the woman's eyes. It had taken her several minutes of scrutinizing to realize that parts of the woman's skin were also glowing green. The images on them looked kind of like circuitry. Which made no sense. The woman was human. That was perfectly clear. She also understood on a very deep level exactly what was going on in Sheila's mind. It wasn't telepathy. It was something else. Something Sheila had no words for. Something that should have freaked Sheila out more, but instead? The girl felt comforted.

Even when the scans did weird things and the doc had to do uncomfortable things, Sheila understood and wasn't troubled by it. From what she had seen, this doctor understood far too well exactly how hurt a human could be and survive. The jerkiness of her walking was evidence of old injuries. Bad injuries. But the woman sought to minimize it and didn't even attempt to call attention to her disability. No, she got on with her life. Sheila could admire that.

"All done?" Jennifer asked with a smile as Sheila finished her bowl of stew. Sheila smiled in return and nodded. "Okay. You have been remarkably patient while I checked you out. I am sure you have a few thousand questions." Sheila made a 'who me?' gesture and Jennifer smiled wider. "Let me tell you what we know. We are en route to the most advanced medical care we know of. This isn't a medical ship, but the Agincourt was on the way there anyway on navy business, so I bummed a ride." Sheila stared at her and Jennifer shrugged, a light color of pink showing on her cheeks. "I am not one to too my own horn, but we did a few good things and the Alliance works with us the best they can. They are not the most flexible of organizations, but they don't want to anger Anya. Again." Her grimace spoke of a _long_ story there. "With me so far?"

Sheila nodded and started typing. 'I am very confused.'

"Not surprising." Jennifer said when she was sure Sheila wasn't going to write any more. "At least you are not from a pre-tech culture or a retro colony. Those get messy when we try to help them." Sheila stared at her and Jennifer made a face. "Don't ask. We try very hard not to make messes, but is there _anything_ humans cannot mess up?" Sheila thought about that for a moment and made a face herself. Jennifer nodded. "Anyway… You were dropped off in our lap. The guy who dropped you off was weird. No one has ever seen armor like he was wearing. He came in, dropped you off along with some stuff, including a list of your injuries and picture of the woman who he said did it to you. Then he left before we could stop him.."

'He _left_ me?' Sheila tried to convey her disbelief and Jennifer managed to pick it up.

"Yeah." Jennifer sighed. "We freaked. Big sis is a lot of things. She is one of the most tolerant people I know. But she was madder than hell when she saw what happened to you. She went through something similar once and such ordeals leave scars that will never truly fade." Sheila nodded, her face grave. "You know."

'I have seen it.' Sheila wrote. 'I know I will need help to get past it. To cope. I feel...' She paused. What did she feel? 'I do not know what I feel.'

"Once we were sure you were not going to die, we had a mind healer check you out." Jennifer said quietly. "She is very good at her job and did what she could. You have walls in your mind, holding the emotions at bay. But those will not hold forever." Sheila shook her head. "If there is _one_ thing my family knows it is mind problems and we have a lot of friends who have helped us with ours. But we do not know you. We didn't know where you came from or who that stranger was. We reported your arrival to the Council and they directed us to do what we could for you and then get you to the best care possible. That was eighteen hours ago. For my sins, I was sent with you." Jennifer's smile belied her words.

'Thank you.' Sheila wrote. 'I know this has to be a burden.'

"Maybe." Jennifer shrugged. "But you didn't do these things to yourself. You are a victim, a survivor. I know about that. More than I ever wanted to." Sheila stared as the woman's eyes went far away. Then Jennifer chuckled a little. "If I get too deep and serious, throw something at me. Preferably a pillow."

Sheila couldn't help it. She laughed at that even though no sound came out. Then she slumped a bit.

'I don't know any of this.' Sheila wrote slowly. 'This is all new to me.'

"When we did not find any records of you anywhere, we assumed you were from a retro colony." Jennifer frowned slightly. "Lots of people..." She sighed. "After the War, lots of people wanted to go their own way. Some blamed technology for the War. Others just wanted to be left alone. I don't understand it myself, but as long as no one hurts anyone else, nobody is going to mind. But someone hurt you."

'I don't understand.' Sheila wrote, her face squnched up in worry. 'Which War?'

At that, Jennifer went completely still. Her face actually went slack for a moment. She stared at Sheila and then she opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a beeping sounded from nearby. She spun to glare at a wall and then she turned to the door. Her voice turned angry.

"Eavesdropping on me is a _bad_ idea, Lieutenant." Sheila shivered at Jennifer's voice. The kind and gentle doctor was suddenly replaced by a dangerous woman. A hard and capable woman. Sheila would not have been surprised if doc's hand suddenly held a weapon. "Be glad it is me and not Melissa. _She_ would have you up on charges by now."

"This is a ship of the Alliance Navy."A voice that Sheila immediately disliked sounded as the door hissed open again. The man who stepped in set off all kinds of alarms in Sheila's mind. He wore what had to be a dress uniform. "We follow regulations here."

"Do you?" Jennifer's tone was downright viscous now as she moved to stand between the man and Sheila's bed. "This young lady is my responsibility and I don't think she is any shape to be a spy or saboteur. She cannot even _walk_ for god's sake!"

The man looked at Sheila as if she were some kind of bug that he had found crawling on his shined boots. Immaculately shined boots. Sheila knew soldiers. She knew a lot of soldiers and warriors. She even knew the difference between the two. If this man had ever done real in the field soldiering, it had been from a safe distance while others did the dirty work. She met his gaze calmly.

"Do I need to get the doctor or the major in on this?" Jennifer asked, her tone suddenly long suffering. "I can."

"You wouldn't dare." The man sneered, only to freeze as Jennifer laughed. That laugh was cold and hard. Nikis _himself_ might not have bettered the woman's cold scorn. Sheila was suddenly glad she couldn't see Jennifer's face. From the look on the lieutenant's _he_ didn't want to see it.

When Jenifer spoke, it was if Oracle Janet or Nikis stood bedside her. The room seemed to chill.

"Is that so?" Sheila's eyes went huge as a glowing orange thing surrounded Jennifer's left arm. A circle of some kind was over the back of her hand and she was tapping what were obviously keys on it a tiny holographic keyboard. Some kind of tool, but what?

"Agent Solinus?" A calm male voice sounded from a hidden speaker and the lieutenant paled further. "What can I do for you?"

"Lieutenant Burbank is trying to eavesdrop on my talking to the girl, Major Jorl." Jennifer's tone was calm, serene even. So how did it convey such disgust?

"Is he now?" The voice of the major turned cool. "I see. We were asked to convey the agent and her charge to the Citadel. High Command authorized it and told us to extend every possible consideration. What part of 'every possible consideration' do you not understand, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, this is warship of the Systems Alliance!" Lieutenant Burbank said quickly.

"Yes, it is." Major Jorl did not -quite- snarl that. "But if that girl is a threat to this ship _or_ the Systems Alliance, then we _far_ larger problems than your bad attitude. This is the second time Agent Solinus has jerked you up short in less than a day, lieutenant."

"Sir!" The human couldn't possibly pale further and not collapse. "We need to maintain security!"

"That is actually a good point." Major Jorl admitted. Sheila fought hard not to laugh at the look on the lieutenant's face. He wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he didn't like it. "Agent, would you like a security escort?"

"That might be a good idea, Major." Jennifer said quietly. "Sheila here has been badly traumatized. I think she could do with more security." She looked at Sheila with a question in her eyes and Sheila shrugged. "One thing Major. I have known soldiers. I have known _young_ soldiers. If any images of Sheila in this condition get out, Anya will _not_ be happy."

"Neither will the brass." Major Jorl agreed sourly. "Okay. Lieutenant Burbank, you obviously don't have enough to do." At that the human jerked as if something hot had been applied to a tender part of his anatomy. Sheila winced in memory, but Jennifer's wry smile eased her. "You are going to hit the com legs. Since you like quoting regs, you can enforce them. On _everyone_. Including yourself. Yo wills can every single line of communication from this ship for images of the girl and report them to me if you find any."

"Ah..." The lieutenant stammered a bit but then straightened. "Yes sir."

"If any leaks happen from this ship between here and when our guests leave, I will _personally_ take your still bleeding carcass and toss it to the wolves." The Major promised. The Lieutenant started to object and the Major cut him off. Obviously there was a video pickup somewhere. "Would you prefer to be tossed to the Solinus clan matriarchs? I am sure they have all kinds of dirty jobs you could do."

"It is a school,. Major." Jennifer said with a wicked grin that Sheila could see even with her facing the lieutenant. "We always have messes to clean up. All else fails, we can make him work in the nursery. A few days of changing thirty plus diapers and he will _beg_ to be transferred to a hot combat zone."

"Changing diapers? That is _evil_ , Agent." The Major chuckled as the lieutenant's face blanked. "Remind me not to get on your bad side. Get out of there lieutenant. She would be within her rights to shoot you for violating her patient's privacy." The man all but bolted from the room and Jennifer relaxed a little as a laugh came form the speakers. "That what you wanted?"

"I wouldn't shoot him, Major." Jennifer sighed deeply. "I don't kill people anymore."

"That is good." The Major said with a matching sigh. "We have no shortage of trigger pullers. We are always short on people who know when _not_ to do it." His tone gentled. "How is Sheila?"

"She is scared and confused." Jennifer smiled at Sheila as she turned back to the bed. "But she is handling it far better than most would." Sheila smiled back and relaxed a bit as the orange thing around Jennifer's arm vanished back wherever it came from.

"You still want the escort?" The Major asked. "That is following the letter of the regs even if the CO isn't totally by the book all the time."

"Wasn't aware Captain Simons knew where the reg book _was_." Jennifer laughed.

"Hey!" Major Jorl said sternly, but someone laughed behind him. "We resemble that remark!"

"That you do. You frigate crews always play a bit looser than the big boys. This whole situation is odd, Major." Jennifer sat down beside Sheila again. "But we do appreciate the ride. I know it was a bit out of your way."

"Not that much and hey, we get some shore leave out of it." The Major said with a chuckle. "Few complainers."

"An escort would be good. I don't want the lieutenant souring Sheila's first encounters with the Alliance." Jennifer said quietly. Sheila jerked. Had she been so transparent? Jennifer smiled and patted her hand.

"Her... _first?_ " The Major sounded nonplussed. "Oh dear. I was going to send the Sarge." Jennifer looked at Sheila and her face was remote.

"The Sarge is a good idea." Jennifer said quietly. "Even a brand new LT has _got_ to realize that he is _not_ going to win an argument with a 20 year NCO." Sheila snickered silently at that and Jennifer looked at her oddly. Sheila nodded fervently and the woman's expression of confusion cleared. 'You know what an NCO is?" Sheila nodded.

'Non Commissioned Officer.' Sheila wrote. 'Enlisted rank. Usually in charge of running men instead of operations.'

"Not many retro colonists would now what an NCO is." Jennifer said slowly. Sheila tensed and Jennifer sighed.

"I will leave you to that, Agent." The Major said after a moment. "The Sarge and another guard will be with you shortly. They won't leave your side until we get to the Citadel and C-Sec takes authority."

Something went click and Sheila slumped in the bed as Jennifer looked her over.

"I am not your enemy, Sheila." Jennifer kept her voice quiet and calm. "But you know military ranks and don't know what war I was talking about. You seem too young, but… Were you in a military?" Sheila shook her head. "But you know about them." Sheila nodded. "We need to get your voice fixed. I get the feeling this is going to be one _hell_ of an explanation."

Sheila slumped a bit. She really did not understand all of this. She had thought she sort of had a handle on things, but nothing was what she had thought.

"Hey, buck up." Jennifer smiled at her again. "If you are a spy, I will eat a combat helmet." She snickered at Sheila's expression. "We are going to help you. Thing is, the brass -both human and other- don't like mysteries." Sheila nodded, her heart sinking. Then something Jennifer said clicked and Sheila's eyes went huge. "Sheila?"

'Other?" Sheila typed carefully.

"Yeah." Jennifer looked and sounded dumbfounded. "Non humans." She went still as Sheila did. "You…"

'Where the hell am I?' Sheila demanded, her eyes burning.

"Hey." Jennifer's tone turned sharp. "Sheila. Sheila look at me." She took hold of Sheila's hands for a moment and then released one, taking the other in both of hers. "Sheila… Look at me." She begged. Sheila met the human's eyes and was stunned at the sheer compassion and understanding that lay within them. Suddenly, she was crying and the other was holding her. After several minutes, Jennifer spoke again. "We need to figure out where you came from and if you can get back. But no matter what, you are not alone. You hear me?" She gave Sheila a gentle shake. "You are not alone."

The door chimed and Jennifer heaved a sigh as Sheila recoiled. She let the girl go and rose to stand, holding out a wad of small paper to the girl who took them, wiping her face.

"Sargent Brok?" Jennifer called.

"Reporting with a party of one, Agent." A gravelly voice sounded from the door.

"Step inside, Sergeant." Jennifer moved to stand between the door and the bed.

Sheila felt every ounce of breath leave her body as two armored forms entered the room. Neither armor was anything she knew. Both forms were humanoid, two arms and two legs. Both had boxy things attached to their backs what had to be weapons. Both wore helmets that did not cover their faces and…

One was a dark skinned human and looked a lot older than Jennifer. The other was not human. It had four eyes that locked onto Sheila from across the room. She tensed, but it did not move, did not draw its weapon.

"Ma'am?" The older newcomer asked tightly as Sheila stared at the other.

"You have never seen a batarian before, have you Sheila?" Jennifer asked. Sheila shook her head her eyes not leaving the others face.

"What the-?" The younger one started, but cut him… Yes, from the tone, it was a him. He cut himself off as the Sergeant stiffened.

"Private, you didn't _see_ anything. You don't _know_ anything and by god you don't _say_ anything without permission from the Major, clear? Safer for everyone that way." The Sergeant said flatly. "Is she a retro colonist, Ma'am? I knew of a few who hid well enough that no one found them until recently?"

"I don't know. Where there were a few, there were probably lots more who either went totally dark or perished." Jennifer's tone spoke of old pain, old fear. "I don't think so. She knows what an NCO is."

"Does she?" The sergeant asked. "Miss Sheila? You know what I do?"

There was only one proper answer for that. Sheila typed and held up her tablet. On it a single line read-

'You work for a living.'

* * *

 **If you think Jennifer and the people she talks about are a bit familiar, check out Mass Effect Survivors- s/8696945/1/Mass-Effect-Survivors**

 **It is a long one and she doesn't show up until about halfway through. But I figured she and her family would work well as crossover material.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Building Trust**

For a long moment, there was utter silence in the room as both humans and the batarian stared at the tablet Sheila had written on. Then the private burst out laughing. Both of the humans smiled and Sheila managed a small smile as well.

"She has got you there, Sarge." All four of his eyes were crinkled in mirth as Sheila smiled at him. She tired not to cringe at the mouth full of pointed teeth and was pretty sure she succeeded. The fact that they were glowing and glowing circuitry shown on his exposed flesh was almost inconsequential.

"That she does, Private." The older soldier said with a nod. "That she does. You are not from a retro colony are you?" Sheila started typing and the others waited for her to finish.

'If you mean a colony that has renounced technology either for religious reasons or some other craziness, no.' Sheila wrote. 'But I do not know this place. Your rank is the only thing here that makes any sense to me. Not that it _does_ make sense. Any of this.' She made a face and all three nodded. 'No, I am not.'

"Where are you from, Sheila?" Jennifer asked, her tone gentle. "Where were you born?"

'I do not know.' Sheila typed after a moment. All three of the others stared at her, Jennifer's eyes huge and Sheila continued typing. 'This is so strange to me. I don't understand!'

"We will be outside, Ma'am. Call if you need anything." The sergeant said after a moment. He nodded to the private and both left the room.

"Sheila, for now, lets just focus on what we _do_ know." Jennifer said as she sat back down beside the girl. "You are hurt. You were dropped in our laps. We will help you." Her calm sincerity brought tears to the bedridden girl's eyes. "We couldn't do anything for your legs or throat, so we are taking you somewhere that they can do more. We will not leave you to face this alone. My entire clan stands for you, girl."

'I...' The tablet blurred under Sheila's fingers as tears started falling and she felt it taken out of her hand. Then she was being rocked as she cried.

"Anyone else tries to hurt you and they will regret it. Briefly." Jennifer promised. "Even with the help our friend gave you, you are still hurting inside. Much as she wanted to, she could not wave an appendage and make the pain go away. All she could do is make it hurt less."

"You need sleep." Jennifer said after an indeterminate time. "Time and rest can heal many things that defy even the best technology." Sheila nodded jerkily, but then went still as Jennifer started to sing. She wasn't an incredible singer like Mercedes, but she obviously poured her heart and soul into it.

Sheila was smiling as she nodded off, still held in warm arms.

* * *

Jennifer Solinus slumped a bit as she arranged the sleeping girl to lie a bit more comfortably. She had known as soon as she had catalogued the girl's many injuries that this would try her in so many ways. But this… It hurt. It hurt worse than her old injuries. It hurt worse than anything she had ever encountered. But she would-

"Thank you." An unexpected voice had Jennifer jerking upright as a woman appeared in the middle of the room. A hologram or something. Not a real woman. She wore a long white robe of some kind and an odd headdress that covered her face down to her nose, obscuring her eyes.

"Who are you?" Jennifer demanded, her omni-tool ready.

"I don't exist in your universe, Jennifer Solinus." The woman said quietly. "You may call me Oracle." Jennifer glared at her and the woman shrugged. "Melodramatic, I know. But my name wouldn't mean anything here and it does work as a descriptor. Thank you." She repeated as she looked at Sheila's sleeping form. Was that a tear that was falling down her jaw? It was! More than one. "She is a good kid."

"You know her." Jennifer said slowly, her omni-tool scanning. There was nothing there. No energy. No nothing. That wasn't possible, was it? Even a dark energy hologram would show _something_.

"Yeah." Oracle wore a small, sad smile now. "I sort of adopted her. I found her crying in a closet. I took her in. I gave her my heart and she gave me hers. I don't remember all of it, my life too has been a mess. But her love I remember. I failed her."

"Who hurt her?" Jennifer demanded, trying to keep her voice down.

"An insane doctor who wanted Sheila to become like her." Oracle said quietly. Jennifer went stiff and Oracle nodded. "Sheila is a medic by trade. She lives to heal. To help others." Her mouth set into a grim line. "We fear that the evil one may have succeeded in warping the poor girl's psyche."

"You don't _know_?" Jennifer snapped.

"I am not omniscient any more than you are, Jennifer Solinus." Oracle said with a tiny shrug. "I just see far more than anyone else I know. Which is no fun at all."

"Why talk to me?" Jennifer asked, watching both Oracle and the sleeping girl.

"Because she is there. I cannot help her." Oracle said with a sigh. "That is utterly forbidden. There are limits to my power as in all things. You and your family _can_ help her."

"We have done what we can." Jennifer did not move, her gaze never straying from the other.

"Please don't leave her alone." Oracle begged. "Don't leave her to face this horror alone. She was an innocent. The evil one violated her _knowing_ what she was doing and _enjoying_ it."

"Corrupting an innocent." Jennifer said slowly. The transparent woman just looked at her. "Do you know how my family feels about that?"

"The one who dropped her with you knew." Oracle's tone was quiet, but held hate now. "He took her from her loved ones. He gave her to the evil one. I don't think he understood exactly what she would do, but he _did_ it and he _will_ pay for it." Steel would have bent under the transparent woman's tone.

"You know we will help her." Jennifer said with a nod. "No matter what, my family is not in the habit of leaving hurt children to suffer." Her head shot around as Sheila moaned. The girl was stirring! Jennifer spun back, but the transparent woman was gone.

"That was seriously weird. You need to go back to sleep, Sheila." Jennifer said quietly as she sat beside the bed again. "You need it." Sheila's eyes opened for just a moment and then she slumped and was asleep again. "This won't go over well at all. With anyone. But hey..." She laid a hand on Sheila's limp one. "We never get easy jobs. Wouldn't know what do with them if we did."

She waited until she was sure the girl would not wake again and then she opened her omni-tool again. This time, she set all of her countermeasures in place before she activated a tool she really wasn't supposed to have. Quantum entanglement communicators were not unknown, but if the anyone other than the Council knew her family had them built into omni-tools, some people would probably get miffed. She didn't care.

"Sis? We have trouble."

* * *

Some time later

When Sheila woke again, she felt much better than she had. She still couldn't move her legs and her throat was numb. She wasn't as tired and she didn't hurt anywhere now. The pain had registered before, but it had been almost inconsequential compared to all of the other shocks. Now she didn't hurt and she smiled as the door hissed open and Jennifer stepped in, a smile blossoming on the older woman's face as she saw Sheila awake and smiling.

"Good timing, Sheila." Jennifer moved to Sheila's bedside and took her hand. "We are docking at the Citadel in just a few minutes. You will see and hear things that you don't understand. You will likely see things that bother or frighten you. But don't worry. I am here." Jennifer promised. "And I am not leaving your side. The Sarge and the private have been detailed to guard you as well until their ship leaves. That may be a few days, they are waiting for a new medical officer."

Sheila looked around and found the tablet. She picked it up with her free hand and swiped it on with her thumb. Jennifer chuckled and released her hand.

"A bit inconvenient, that." Jennifer admitted. "Let's hope they can fix your throat quickly. We did what we could, but the damage was extensive."

'What happened?' Sheila typed her question. 'I don't remember my throat getting hurt.'

"We don't know." Jennifer said with a hint of rage showing for just a moment. "When you arrived on our station, your front was covered in blood. The front of your throat had been ripped out and crudely bandaged. The first responders feared you were dead. Whoever did that was careful, but also evil. They _really_ did not want you talking. But they did not want you dead, or you would be."

'Far easier to kill than to maim.' Sheila typed, her fear rising. Jennifer nodded. 'What do I do?'

"Try to relax." Jennifer made a face as Sheila did. "I know. Not the easiest thing to do under the circumstances. Two doctors and a nurse are coming aboard to see you and do a preliminary diagnosis. They don't trust _mine_." This last was humorous rather than angry. Sheila made another face and Jennifer laughed. "Dealt with that yourself, have you?" Sheila nodded. "Thing is, you cannot walk and trying to move a gurney through the halls of a small warship is not going to work. So they will bring a litter."

Sheila gulped at that. She knew that it simply made sense in such close confines, but it wouldn't be fun to be carried. She blew out a breath and then nodded slowly.

"Do you want a sedative?" Jennifer asked. "I know _I_ hate being carried." Sheila shook her head and Jennifer smiled a little forlornly. "I offered."

Sheila went still as the door hissed open again and three forms in white bustled in. One was a dark a haired human woman. The other two were beings of races that Sheila had never seen before. One was thing, almost spindly in form. It had a narrow head with two bulbous eyes. The other was just as odd looking, but different. She had blue skin and her head had no hair. Instead, there were some kind of tentacle things there that Sheila did not look at too closely. At least Sheila assumed it was a she because of the body form. All three wore what were obviously scrubs.

"Doctor Michel." Jennifer said with a smile. "Good to see you again even under these circumstances."

"Jennifer." The human smiled back. "Keeping out of trouble, I hope?"

"You know me." Jennifer made a throw away gesture and the other human doctor shook her head, obviously fighting a laugh.

"I _do_." Doctor Michel's tone implied a lot of stories to Sheila, but her smile was kind as she looked the girl over. "Sheila, is it?" Sheila nodded and the human blew out a deep breath. "This is not going to be fun for you but we will make it as quick as we can."

Sheila held up a hand as the two aliens started scanning her. She typed even as they scanned, then showed the screen to Jennifer and the other human doc.

'Load and go?' Doctor Michel turned a bemused glance at Jennifer who shrugged.

"She is not a kid. She is medic trained." Jennifer frowned as the other two ignored her and Sheila, focused on their work. "We don't know where she came from. I documented our own findings, as horrific as they were."

"Are you okay with us talking about these things, Sheila?" Doctor Michel asked. Sheila nodded and then started typing again.

'I am a mess.' Sheila typed quickly and then showed the others. 'I know what was done to me. Some of it. But not all. I don't hurt now.'

"That is not always a good sign, Sheila." Doctor Michel said quietly and Sheila nodded agreement. "We will move you as carefully as we can, but the corridors are cramped."

"Patient should be asleep for that." The being with the huge eyes said calmly as he readied a hypo. Sheila tensed and Jennifer shook her head.

"Doctor Kuil,..." Jennfier said with a sigh. "She knows. But she had been abused by someone who claimed to be a medical professional. She finds it incredibly hard to trust. Even me." Sheila bowed her head in sadness. That was true. She liked Jennifer, but she couldn't trust the woman. Not yet. "If we try to sedate her, she will react badly. She doesn't like to be out of control."

"Even our orderlies have their limits. The easiest way to get you out of here fast will be to carry you in a rescue basket." The blue skinned alien said to Sheila who looked at her. "That will not be comfortable at all. Even a litter won't be comfortable."

'Not comfortable now.' Sheila wrote and the blue skinned female smiled at her.'Please do not drug me.' She begged in her writing.

"No one will do _anything_ without your permission, Sheila." Jennifer promised. "I wish Alliance frigates were built a little roomier, but space is at a premium for such small craft. They are fast and we wanted you here as quickly as possible."

'How did you get me in here?' Sheila asked.

"You were unconscious and we moved you on a backboard." Jennifer replied. Sheila felt reassured. "You have no spinal injuries so you do not want to ride that way while you are awake." Sheila shook her head quickly. "A litter?" Jennifer asked the others.

"Probably the best way." The blue skinned woman said after a moment. "Who did this to her? This is _evil_." She complained, staring at her scanner.

"Yeah." Jennifer sighed. "Sheila, I won't leave your side, but we need to get you to proper care."

'It is not like I can insult you with no voice.' Sheila smiled slyly as she finished typing that. The others stared at her and then all four shared a smile with her. 'So do what you must.'

"Right." Jennifer moved to the side as a pair of orderlies of another race that Sheila did not know move din and set up a litter beside her on the bed. They were humanoid, but their body proportions were wrong for humans. They also had odd spiky exoskeletons instead of hair on their heads. Their hands were both gentle and professional.

The docs continued to scan as the orderlies moved Sheila onto the litter. She winced as pain came from deep, deep inside her. Jennifer gave her hand a squeeze and retreated as the orderlies lifted handles and the sides of the littler swept up around her.

"I have you stuff. Hang on, Sheila, we will make this as fast as we can." Jennifer said as she gathered up the bag and tablet. Sheila smiled at her and then closed her eyes.

The orderlies were good. Sheila could feel movement, but there was very little jarring as she was moved. Through cracked eyelids, Sheila saw narrow gray corridors marked with the same Alliance symbol. She saw the sergeant and private form before moving with the group, but most of her focus was on on the pain that surged through her body. She couldn't feel her legs, but the rest of her _hurt_.

The ride was no fun at all. Sheila was feeling more than bit lightheaded when thee group stopped and an odd green light washed over them all. She tensed, but Jennifer spoke up before she could do more.

"It is a decontamination protocol, Sheila. Standard for entering the Citadel. Won't take long." Jennifer patted her hand where it lay on the litter. "Once we are off the ship, they have a transport to take you to the hospital. Not long now, Sheila. Not long."

They started moving again, but then stopped and Sheila felt rather than saw Jennifer move to her side. She looked and the two Alliance soldiers who were escorting her had moved to flank her too. Both orderlies looked nervous.

"Move." The spindly doctor said flatly. "We have a patient who needs tending."

"Alliance Social Services. We have received a report of an endangered child." A supercilious female voice sounded and Sheila tensed. Did she know the voice? It was familiar.

"From who?" Jennifer said sharply and then groaned. "Never mind. Burbank." It wasn't a question. "Sergeant remind me to tell the major to kick the LT's ass from one end of the ship to the other."

"Noted, Ma'am." The sergeant was a professional, but his tone was flat. He wasn't happy.

"Who we got the report from does not matter. What matters is the child's welfare." The voice was so familiar. Sheila managed to turn her head and see the speaker. A human woman in an odd blue uniform was flanked by two guards. She _did_ know the woman, but it was _impossible_. The clone who had hurt her _winked_ at her.

Everything stopped as Sheila screamed. Jennifer had her omni-tool in hand and both soldiers had weapons in hand even as the medics moved to Sheila's side. The orderlies did not move even as Sheila started to struggle to get free. She couldn't.

"Sheila?" Jennifer said quickly. "Sheila! Stop! You will hurt yourself."

"We will be taking her now." The clone said with a nod, and took a step only to freeze as two weapons covered her. Jennifer raised her arm, the hologram around it glowing.

"You are not taking her _anywhere_." Jennifer said savagely. "There is only _one_ person who could _possibly_ make her react that way."

"The one who hurt her."


	9. Chapter 9

**Treating**

Sheila was still struggling to get off the litter, but the spindly doctor bent down and something went hiss. She relaxed totally against her will. She was screaming silently as she slumped back onto the soft material. She couldn't move at all now! She felt wetness on her cheeks. Crying was all she could do.

"You are not touching her again." Jennifer said savagely.

"I don't know what you are talking about." The clone said smoothly.

"No?" Jennifer asked as her tool lit up with a green glow around the hand circles. Her tone was suddenly about as warm as an ice cube. "Well… then the fact that the scan I just did of your DNA matches the bits we took out of her wounds means nothing, does it?"

The clone did not react, but others did. An odd sound came from beside Sheila as both Alliance soldiers moved to stand by Jennifer. The batarian was _growling_. Both soldiers had rifles of some kind aimed at the fake social services worker.

"Whoa!" One of the men who had been beside the clone raised empty hands. He didn't seem to be armed. The other did not move at all. Wise of him. "Everyone calm down. She has a warrant." Jennifer ignored him, all of her focus was on the clone who did not look away.

"I don't care _what_ she has. She is not _touching_ this girl again! Did you _enjoy_ hurting her?" Jennifer asked. "I know the kind of person who does things like that. I have seen it far too often."

"C-Sec is on the way." Doctor Michel said from where she stood beside Sheila. The girl couldn't even move her eyes or close them and Michel laid a hand on hers, trying to comfort. "They were understandably surprised that no one told them that a social services agent was serving a warrant now." Both of the guards standing by the clone suddenly looked very uncomfortable. She moved to stand by Jennifer, the other doctor and the blue skinned nurse also moving to stand with the trio of armed people, forming a living wall between the clone and Sheila's litter. "Sheila has been hurt enough. You are not taking her."

"Oops." A shark might have gotten goosebumps from Jennifer's smile. "It is always the little things, isn't it?"

"You cannot hold her." The clone said with a frown.

"Well, I am certainly not giving her to _you!_ " Jennifer said with a shrug. "Go ahead. Start a fight. Please. I don't kill humans, but I don't think you _count_ after what you did to this poor girl."

"That 'poor girl' is not what you think." The clone said softly.

"Well, I _think_ she is hurt.' Jennifer snapped. "And I _think_ you did it. So feel _free_ to start something."

"No." The clone smirked at Sheila. "She will come to me willingly when she sees the alternatives."

A siren sounded in the distance and she darted away suddenly, leaving the two guards to stare after her, dumbfounded. A moment later, two flying cars came into view, both with police lights going. A moment later, three forms in armor came into view in the hallway. All three held weapons, but none were up or aimed.

"C-Sec!" One of them called. "What is going on here?"

"We have a patient for transport." Doctor Michel moved forward as the two soldiers lowered their weapons. They did _not_ put them away, Sheila noticed. "She needs care _now_."

Sheila was shivering as the two orderlies carrying her litter started forward with the doc. Jennifer matched their pace, the two soldiers following The two guards who had been with the clone looked unsure, but moved as Jennifer growled at them.

"Doctor?" The newly come C-Sec asked. And what the hell was that? Sheila wondered.

"We have a Code Nine with aggravated assault and battery." Doctor Michel said tightly. All three security troops froze at that and then all looked thunderous. "There is also a bunch of weirdness."

"And the Marines?"The spokesman asked carefully.

"They are with me." Jennifer said flatly. "Girl was dropped off with us. Anya took responsibility. You may not know how she gets. But um… don't get in her way. It will hurt." She warned. She looked at Sheila and blanched. "Who drugged Sheila?" She demanded.

"I take responsibility." The spindly alien doctor said calmly. "She was struggling so hard she was hurting herself. It is a mild paralytic and It will not interact with anything else in her system."

The glare Jennifer leveled on him should have rendered him down to ash, but Sheila relaxed a little. She had been hurting herself. She knew that. That didn't change her emotions, but she _did_ understand why the doc had done it. She had done similar things in her life as a medic. She looked at Jennifer, willing her acceptance of the doctor's intent to cross the open air between the two. Jennifer paused and then slowly reached out to touch Sheila's forehead.

 _Sheila?_ Jennifer's voice inside Sheila's head was scared for the girl.

 _It is okay, Jennifer._ _He did the right thing._ Sheila wasn't sure how they were talking, but they _were_ and that was a good thing. _I am upset, but it was the right thing. I would have hurt myself_ _more_ _. She… Jennifer…_ She pleaded.

 _I am not leaving._ _She will not have you._ Jennifer sent a mix of worry and compassion to the other and retracted her hand. "She understands why you did it and agrees it was the right thing. Seeing the one who hurt her was a shock."

"'The one who hurt her'?" The cop demanded.

"This girl needs care _now_." Doctor Michel was running out of patience. "We can explain _after_ she is in an ICU."

The odd cavalcade started off again and then picked up speed. Sheila was quickly gasping for breath as pain came in waves. A hand grasped hers even as she managed to close her eyes. Then she was in something. She could hear a siren close by and others closer and then far. She could feel movement and hear low talking, but none of it made it through the haze of pain. Then everything went away.

When Sheila could see again, she was lying on a soft surface. She was surrounded by medical machinery she did not know. Jennifer and Doctor Michel were standing nearby, looks of worry on both their faces. She turned her head to look at them and they both smiled at her. She glanced around, aware of a fuzziness in her head that denoted some kind of drug, but she wasn't worried. Not with Jennifer right there. She looked down at herself and her patient gown was different. She had no tubes or wires attached to her, but she felt… better.

"Sheila?" Jennifer asked. "Back with us?" Sheila nodded. "Good. You scared us." Sheila looked for her tablet, but Jennifer smiled wider. "Try talking."

Sheila stared at her but opened her mouth and froze as something crackled to life nearby. "Wha-?" It wasn't her voice. It was synthesized but it was a female voice and when she tried again, her words came out of it. "That is not my voice, but I can speak?"

"A machine is reading the brainwaves passing into the speech center of your brain and translating them into audio." Doctor Michel said with a nod. "It is new, but it works. We developed it for, well..." She shrugged. "We have had lots of different cases where people had difficulties with speech, so a set of smart people came up with workarounds. Your throat injury will not stop you from communicating. Unfortunately, the machine is still too large to carry around, although they are working on that."

"Thank you." Sheila felt her eyes burn. "I… She wanted me mute."

"Who was she, Sheila?" Jennifer asked. "The real social worker was found an hour ago. She was beaten very badly and then stuffed into a disposal chute. Luckily for her, the sensors realized she was too large for it and called an alert.. They will be able to save her. Who was that?"

"She is evil." Sheila said weakly. "My mom… She is clone of my mom."

"A _clone_?" Doctor Michel said angrily. "That violates so many rules it just isn't _funny_. Who would _dare?_ "

"It has been done before." Jennifer said sourly. Doctor Michel nodded soberly. "You passed out in the ambulance, Sheila. You have been unconscious for three hours."

"I don't hurt now." Sheila said with a smile that faded. "How bad?"

"Your throat was bleeding." Doctor Michel said quietly. "The rest of your body was strained both by the transport and by your stress." Sheila put a hand to her throat and the bandage there felt different, newer. "You were in surgery for an hour and they rebuilt your voice box." Sheila stared at the doc who smiled again. "We work fast here. While you are in the bed, we can control your pain. But you won't be leaving it for a few days at the very least. Your throat will probably be usable by tomorrow. The rest? We will have to see."

"I didn't leave your side and I won't." Jennifer said flatly.

"You have a life too." Sheila said weakly.

"Yeah." Jennifer agreed. "But the classes I teach are on holiday at the moment. And people who do things like what was done to you piss me off."

"Never would have guessed that." Sheila said slyly and both of the doctors chuckled. "So, I can talk and I am not in pain at the moment. This is an improvement." She slumped a bit. "What is the downside? There is _always_ a downside."

"C-Sec is rather upset that someone tried to murder the social worker." Jennifer said with sigh. "They want to talk to you, but we are putting them off until the morning. You need the rest."

"Jennifer, the one who hurt me will do anything to get me back. She will kill anyone, hurt anyone. She..." Sheila wilted. "She is evil. Not at all like my mom."

"Both the Alliance and C-Sec have guaranteed your security while you are here, Sheila." Jennifer sat beside Sheila's bed. "The Alliance its trying hard to make things up to Anya. Not that they _can_." She said darkly. "And C-Sec prides itself on stopping crimes. To have a criminal not only running around on their station, but actively trying to murder and kidnap people to hurt has made them more than a bit unhappy."

"One thing, Sheila." Doctor Michel said quietly. "Doctor Kuil paralyzed you. He did it on his own recognizance. He took responsibility for the stress it gave you."

"What he did was right." Sheila replied. "I was hurting myself. I have been in the position myself where I have had to take responsibility for a patient. I don't want to go through that again, but I do not blame him and I will not press charges." Doctor Michel looked at her and then at Jennifer who smirked.

"Told you." Jennifer said smugly.

"Yeah, you did." Doctor Michel shook her head ruefully. "Rest well, Sheila. I have rounds, but I will be back to check on you." She nodded to Sheila and left.

"Sheila." Jennifer took hold of the girl's hand. "How do you feel?"

"A lot better." Sheila said with a smile. That smile faded. "She is here. I didn't think she could be here."

"Where are you from, Sheila?" Jennifer asked. "I spoke with a woman who wore white. She wasn't there."

"Her face was covered except for her mouth." Sheila's words were not a question, but Jennifer nodded anyway. "We call her 'Oracle'. She… um..."

"She loves you." Jennifer said softly. Sheila nodded. "Where are you from?"

"I..." Sheila sighed. "I don't understand the theory. I only know of two people who do. But have you ever heard of the 'multiverse theory'?"

"Multi-" Jennifer froze, her eyes wide. "An alternate universe?"

"I don't know how to define it better than that." Sheila said through the machine, eyes downcast. "She cannot have followed me here. I don't know how _I_ got here, but I did not come on my own."

"Someone dropped you off, but we only saw him on video." Jennifer said quietly. "He appeared, dropped you and disappeared. The security troops were _not_ enthused."

"I bet." Sheila slumped a bit. "That happened where I was once. The security types went totally crazy. It worked out fairly well in the end, but it was nuts for a while."

"That is their job." Jennifer agreed. "So… This Oracle. Who is she to you?"

"My adopted mother." Sheila was crying softly now and Jennifer gave her hand a squeeze. "I was lost and she found me. I was hurting and she comforted me. I was trapped and she freed me and I couldn't help her… I couldn't help her." Her tears were falling like rain now and Jennifer squeezed her hand tighter.

"She is alive, Sheila." Jennifer said gently. "So are you."

"I know. What do you want to know?" Sheila asked. "I mean, I am hooked to to all of this gear. I bet some of it can tell if I lie."

"Are you a clone?" Jennifer asked. Sheila noted she did not speak about the lie detection. She hadn't expected Jennifer to. "Your DNA is odd."

"More than you know." Sheila said sadly. "And yes. I am. My sisters and I were cloned from two females. One was human. The other was not."

"Sisters?" Jennifer inhaled, but Sheila continued.

"I have one biological sister left alive. She too was… made. But her mothers saved her from the ones who did it." Sheila hated remembering that time, but the truth was all that mattered here. "They did not know about me until much later. Oracle saved me. She took me in. I was a monster and she took me in _anyway!_ " She was bawling now and Jennifer squeezed her hand again.

"It is all right, Sheila." Jennifer said sadly. "I know about being a monster. I had to play one for years. I didn't want to be one, but I had to play the part. You have been traumatized and the one who hurt you wore your mother's face. Small wonder you are upset."

"I know. I know." Sheila gasped. "But I can't stop crying. I know I need rest, but I cannot. If I sleep, I will see her. Maybe she will take me again. I..." She broke off as Jennifer squeezed her hand hard. With the push from that firm grip, Sheila finally managed to stem her tears. Jennifer's other hand came up with a tissue that she cleaned Sheila's face with. "Jennifer?"

"I have a friend on this station who specializes in mental traumas. She is doing a residency here at this hospital actually." Jennifer had a slightly goofy smile on her face now. "She can be a bit much, but her translator is a _very_ good friend. If you want, I can call her. _She_ can make sure your dreams are restful."

"I have to go back, Jennifer. This is not my place." Sheila had no idea how to do that though.

"Well, for now..." Jennifer shrugged. "You need rest. Can I call C-Flat Amethyst? I think you will like her. Her sister C-Flat Citrine checked you out when we found you."

"I am scared of what I am going to dream tonight." Sheila said weakly but then she nodded. "But if you trust her… You are a rock, Jennifer."

"Rocks can be worn down.' Jennifer said quietly. "It took awhile, but I was. She is on her way."

"You didn't use a communicator." Sheila said slowly. Jennifer shook her head. "So… how…?"

"Her translator and I are mated." Jennifer said with a shrug. "We...fit."

"Not my place to judge." Sheila said immediately. "Love is love. After all, I was a _thing_ and Oracle gave me her heart. Love doesn't make any sense. But it is the greatest thing I have ever encountered."

"Indeed it is." Jennifer agreed. "Um, word of warning. C-Flat Amethyst is not human. She is big and bit scary. But she won't hurt you."

"That she won't." A new voice had Sheila turning to the door as it hissed open. Her eyes went huge as another of the blue skinned female all but ran into the room. Jennifer as on her feet and Sheila's eyes went huge as the two embraced. It was _not_ a chaste embrace and Sheila's face heated a little. "Silly human. Why didn't you call us when you were close, Jeni?"

"I am not an asari. I know my limits. Sheila is the important one here, Illia." Jennifer had a wide smile on her face as the blue skinned woman hugged her tight. Then her face fell. "You got the report?"

"We did." Illia's face turned somber as she turned to eye Sheila who returned her gaze calmly. She did not release Jennifer and _where_ was her free hand going? Sheila averted her eyes. "Whoever dropped you knew how Anya would react."

"I think I remember someone saying they knew a safe place, but this is bit far fetched for me." Sheila agreed. Illia looked a question at her and Sheila sighed. 'I think I am from an alternate universe."

"Oh no, not the 'many world' theory." Illia put her free hand from where it had been and slapped her forehead. "Do you have any _idea_ the math involved?"

"No, but I can guess." Sheila winced dramatically. "I um…"

"You are hurt." The blue skinned woman said softly. Sheila stared as her eyes turned silver! "You have nothing to fear from Illia or me."

"Who am I talking to?" Sheila asked and then gave an 'eep' as huge form entered the room, the alien form had to turn sideways to pass the door. The chitin on the form had a distinct purplish tint. The form had two small arms, four legs and two whip like appendages that ended in wicked looking claws. But for some weird reason, Sheila was not afraid. She was suddenly comforted. She started. She could hear music, but it was muted, distant. It wasn't the Clergy's music, it was very different. But it soothed her.

"Sheila, meet C-Flat Amethyst."


	10. Chapter 10

**A mother's HATE  
**

Sheila was in heaven.

She hadn't been totally convinced by Jenifer's reassurance that the rachni was friendly, but the newly come alien and her translator were both very patient. It had taken Illia and Jennifer almost an hour to convince Sheila to let the rachni touch her. But as soon as she did, the music had swelled in Sheila's skull and she had sunk back, blissful. The rachni kept its claw touching Sheila's head and she wasn't sure she could move at all.

It was… She had no words. She didn't _need_ any words. She could feel the rachni's gentle nature soothing her as she lay there, listening to the alien music. It was so beautiful. Parts were sad, parts were proud, parts were just plain alien. But it was all beautiful. The rachni was making the sounds, but they were not audible. Sheila did not want to stop listening, but she had to. She knew she had to. The rachni did too and the song worked its way to an ending that was beautiful as the rest.

"My friend Mishka would give an arm to hear this." Sheila finally said into the silence that had enfolded her. "She is a singer and..." She sighed in loss as the music faded completely from her mind. "Oh my. Is this addictive?'

"Not in the way you might think." Jennifer sounded almost as relaxed as Sheila was. Then again, Illia was sitting on her lap and Sheila pointedly was _not_ looking at what the two were doing. "Is it habit forming? Oh yeah. Most pleasant things _are_. Will you _die_ if you don't hear it? Not without a lot more exposure to them."

The next reply came straight into Sheila's mind. She didn't know how the rachni did it. All three of them said it wasn't telepathy. It just seemed like it.

 _I_ _live_ _the songs._ _I can sense others feeling them however and it generally feels like sens_ _ing Illia taste_ _human chocolate._ C-Flat Amethyst said into Sheila's mind. Sheila looked at the asari who smirked and nodded. _Very tasty, but I can live without_ _it_ _. There have been those who did become_ _too_ _intertwined in our songs however. We do what we can for them._ She sounded sad for a moment and Sheila had to fight the urge to comfort her.

"Some of us had little choice." Illia said quietly _._ "Wouldn't go back to what I was for all the credits in the galaxy though." Sheila looked at her and the asari shrugged. "I was dying. They saved my life. In doing so, they opened my eyes to a lot of things I had ignored or forgotten. Hard not to change when something like that happens."

"Yeah." Sheila blew out a deep breath and smiled at the rachni. "Thank you."

 _You are most welcome, Sheila._ The rachni moved her claw and laid it beside Sheila. The girl laid her hand on it and was comforted. _We feel other music in your mind. It is different from anything we have encountered before. But it is also oddly insistent. It is almost a probe._

"I belong to a group back where I came from." Sheila said slowly. "They are almost certainly looking for me." She paused and then spoke her deepest fear. "The one who took me. He wasn't the one who hurt me. He is known for twisting the minds of people. Making them serve him. I… I am afraid he did it to me."

The human and asari looked at one another and then at the rachni. C-Flat Amethyst made an odd noise, almost a groan.

 _I wish I had a definitive answer for you, Sheila._ The rachni was sad. _Perhaps my queen would be able to tell, but I cannot. Your notes are sad, lonely and some are discordant. But that could be from your pain and fear. You are calmer now and your pain is fading._

"Yes.'" Sheila sighed in contentment. "Thank you." She repeated.

 _This is what we do._ The rachni replied. _We are happy to soothe errant notes into harmony. It was what myself and my sisters were made for._ _It is not easy, but it is always rewarding._

"Is anything that is easy ever rewarding?" Sheila asked as she wiggled a bit, stretching just a tiny amount. She felt very good, but she was also very tired. She needed to sleep, but she was still afraid.

 _Not in my experience._ The rachni replied, her tone super gentle. _You still fear._

"Yes." Sheila's voice was a whisper now. "She has come to me in my dreams before."

 _So evil._ The rachni sounded upset now and who could blame her? _Sheila I do not know if we can ward your dreams, but we will do our best._

"That is all you can do." Sheila said philosophically. "I… If this doesn't work… If I can't..."

She broke off as Jennifer took hold of one of her hands and Illia the other. C-Flat Amethyst moved her claw back to Sheila's skull where it opened and slowly closed around the girl's forehead. It should have terrified her. It didn't. She _knew_ the rachni wouldn't hurt her.

"No matter what, Sheila." Jennifer said quietly. "You are not alone. She will try to make you feel that way. You are not. Remember that."

Whatever Sheila would have said was lost as the bed started to spin gently underneath her. She didn't try to fight. Instead, she surrendered to the feeling and was falling.

Sheila landed on a soft surface. She tried to open her eyes and they wouldn't.

"Silly girl." The voice of the clone came from nearby. "Did you really think to escape me?" Sheila did not respond, simply hoarded her strength for what she knew was coming. When the clone spoke again, it was almost sad. "You are everything I had hoped for. Everything. You will be everything you should have been all along when I am done with you." Again, Sheila did not respond. This time, the clone chuckled. "The silent treatment? What are you? Three?"

 _Actually yes._ Sheila said, but only in the deepest recesses of her mind. _I am almost_ _four_ _._

She did not react as hands touched her, sweeping her wrists together and binding them. She did not react as her legs were yanked cruelly apart and also restrained. She did not react as something cold and slimy was slathered on her skull, a whirring and tugging heralding her hair being shorn off. She did not react as cold things were plastered to her now bare skull.

The clone clucked at her. "Come on girl, scream. Make it interesting." Sheila did not react and the clone sounded upset. "You think you are smart? Better than me? I will show you the truth."

White hot spikes tore into Sheila's mind from whatever was attached to her skull. She could not restrain a scream and didn't even try to. She would need her strength.

"That is more like it, girl." A hand traced Sheila's chest and touched her in very inappropriate places. "A twist here, a nudge there and you will see things my way. We are going to have so much fun together here in this odd place."

"You don't know where we are, do you?" Sheila was amazed her voice was so clear. She was gasping, but her voice was clear.

"It doesn't matter." The clone said with a leer in her voice. "We were linked, you and I. When you were brought here, I came along for the ride. We came out different places, but I am part of you now. You will never be rid of me. You can never escape me." Something narrow and cold invaded Sheila's body low down and she gasped.

 _{It works both ways.}_ What was that? Sheila didn't know that voice. Did she? It didn't sound human, whatever that voice was. It also did not sound like a rachni. It was almost mechanical. Almost.

The coldness inside Sheila expanded and she gasped as something hurt. But the pain faded.

"Hmm..." The clone sounded bemused now. "You are fertile here in this odd place. That was unexpected but not unwelcome. I think.. Yes. Once the overlay is in place, you will serve nicely. And if you bear children for me, so much the better. Less chance of you escaping and then _they_ will serve."

Suddenly, everything seemed to slow. Sheila had never before encountered this feeling, but she had heard about it. She had been angry, yes. More than she could recall. But this… This was something far more. She had never understood how rage could be both hot _and_ cold. Now she did.

The clone gasped as Sheila flexed her muscles and the bindings surrounding her flew off. Sheila snarled as she sat up. She was lying on a colorful bed in a small room. The walls of the room were covered in art work that look juvenile. The bed was the only furniture in the room. The doctor was clad in scrubs, and holding some kind of instrument, but her face held fear now.

Suddenly, they were not alone in the room! Jennifer, Illia and C-Flat Amethyst stood with Oracle Janet and the Reverend Mother of the Clergy! All of the humans and the asari opened their mouths in unison and when they spoke, the sheer _power_ seemed to flatten Sheila back to the bed.

 _ **{We will say this only the once.}**_ The combined voices were not angry and that was somehow worse. **_{You do not know what you are doing. Leave her alone!}_**

"She is mine!" The doc screamed, stabbing Sheila's arm with the instrument before the girl could move. It flashed. "She is my daughter now! Not yours! Go away!"

Something tore through Sheila. A feeling she had never known. A taste of… She felt a smile blossom on her face as her assembled friends stared back at her in horror. A cruel smile.

"Sheila… don't..." Janet begged, but Sheila had reached out with a hand that seemed to move so very slowly to touch the doctor's hand where it still sat.

"You did this to steal a daughter.' Sheila said savagely as her hand clamped down on the doc's wrist. The doctor jerked and then stared at Sheila. Her face was suddenly afraid. "Oops."

"Sheila _stop_!" Janet begged as power flared around Sheila's hand.

A sound came from the rachni and the from the Reverend Mother. Both were singing. But the music didn't quite touch Sheila thought her rage. The doctor screamed as Sheila's hand started to smolder.

"You like pain?" Sheila demanded. "Pity. You won't ever feel it again." Her hand flashed red and orange.

"SHEILA! NO!" Janet screamed loud enough to deafen. She took a step forward, but could not reach the girl. Sheila stared at her adopted mother then at her hand. She released the doctor and the woman fell to the floor, clutching her wrist and sobbing. It was charred black.

"I..." Sheila stammered but then everything stopped as a red and black armored form appeared beside her.

"Well done, girl." Stalker said in a mocking tone. "I knew you had it in you." Then he turned to the others and wonder of wonders, clapped. "Well played Oracle but this match is over. You lose this one."

"You of all people should know better than to boast before the end, Stalker." Janet was beyond angry now. "The war is not over."

"No, it has barely begun." Stalker agreed. "I would hope you are more civilized than to punish Anisette for being my pawn."

"She is a good kid." Janet said flatly. "And if she ever gets a shot at you? She will take it after what you did to her mom. And to her sister." She nodded at Sheila who couldn't move now however hard she tried. Jennifer, Illia and the rachni hadn't moved. The Reverend Mother was still singing.

"It is all right, Oracle." Stalker replied. "This is for the best. Sheila is a monster and I know all about being that."

"Do you?" Jennifer spoke for the first time. "Do you really?"

"You and your family are scary, Jennifer Solinus." Stalker replied with a half bow to her. "We are not enemies. The Oracle and I are enemies and she has done my family a terrible wrong. You helped the girl and stopped a criminal."

"Yeah." Janet's voice was silky, dangerous. "The fact that you kill anyone you choose because you don't know any better makes you such a great judge of character."

"You don't know me, Oracle." Stalker warned.

"Is that so, _Arbiter Kat_?" Janet spit the last bit and Stalker stared at her. "I know where you hide. I know where each and every one of your copies are secreted. My threat _stands_. You may _delay_ my return. You cannot _stop_ it. You _know_ what I will do. I will burn every copy, every hidey hole to _ash_."

"Mom…" Shea's tremulous voice broke the tableau and everyone looked at her. "No."

"Girl..." Stalker started, only to pause as Sheila sat up. Her state of nakedness did not bother her. She wasn't human no matter what she played.

"I am not a girl." Sheila said flatly. "I am not _your_ plaything any more than I am _hers_." She kicked the clone who cried louder. " _You_ did this. _You_ pushed the Oracle into this."

"I did not do that to you." Stalker said evenly. He actually recoiled as Sheila nearly _exploded_.

"BULLSHIT!" Sheila was off the bed and in his face. "You stole my mind! You _gave_ me to her! What did you _think_ would happen? Hmm? You knew she would hurt me. You _knew_ how the Oracle would react. Then you sent me here! You knew her mind would follow, didn't you? No. I refuse to be your plaything. Mom, I am sorry. Please go. You cannot be here when I pass the threshold."

"Sheila no." Janet said weakly as Sheila knelt on the floor beside the sobbing clone. She seemed to collapse, but the Reverend Mother caught her and held her as she reached out feebly to the girl.

"You would kill for me, Mom but I do not want that. I was made to be a monster but I refuse to be one." Sheila said sadly even as Stalker grabbed her arm. She shrugged his grip off effortlessly. This was her mind after all. Her rules. "Go away!" She snapped and his armored form vanished.

"Sheila." Jennifer was staring at the girl now, her face ashen. "What are you doing?'

"He will keep coming after me." Sheila said sadly. "This was just the latest of his plots. He is vengeance crazed and he kills because he doesn't know anything else. I can't let my mom kill thousands of innocents for me, Jennifer. I can't."

"No." Jennifer said quietly. "You wouldn't be able to stand by and let that happen." She looked from Sheila to the Oracle who was crying. "So you die?"

"It is the only way to escape him." Sheila said with a growl as she kicked the clone again. "She and I are linked and he can track _her!_ I am screwed."

"You are wrong." Jennifer has a small smile on her face now. "Oracle? Go home. It will be okay. But you won't be able to contact her for a bit. We will find a way to free her and get her home."

"What?" Sheila and Janet chorused.

"We do odd things for those we love." Sheila jerked as Jennifer was suddenly beside her, hugging her tight.

"No!" Sheila said savagely. "Let go! If you are in my mind when I pass, you will die too!"

 _We know._

That wasn't Jennifer's voice! Rachni music slammed into Sheila like a run away truck and she was flying. But she wasn't afraid now. She wasn't angry. She wasn't...

* * *

Somewhere else

She could see and hear, but she was detached. She couldn't feel anything even as the rachni that was far larger than C-Flat Amethyst crooned to her. Arms that was longer than she was tall bent down, scooped her up and held her close.

 _You are very brave, Sheila, but there are limits. The clone_ **did** _program you but she did not know what she was doing. You are not human. She had no idea the heights and depths that your mind can reach or the power that lies within it. Your body is reacting in ways you cannot control. She had no idea what she was unleashing._

"I am scared." Sheila said weakly as she was held close to the warm chitin. "What I did… I wanted to… I was going to..."

 _I know._ The other said gently. _A_ _threat to you, you could handle. But a threat to children in your presence was your tipping point. You have had to help hurt children before._ _The clone_ _didn't know that. She_ _i_ _sn't omniscient any more than your adopted mother is. Such a threat was an error._ _Your empathy is strong. Perhaps too strong for you to endure._

"What am I?" Sheila begged as soothing tunes pulled her in and bouyed her up. "What am I _becoming_?"

 _I don't know, Sheila._ _Only the wisest of beings ever truly know what they are._ The massive rachni said gently as she rocked Sheila. _We will help you discover what_ _we can of what you are and why_ _. The Solinus clan will aid you as well. They are good people._

"Good people get hurt around me." Sheila was fading, but she couldn't. She couldn't just surrender to the feelings.

 _Some things transcend species._ The rachni said after a moment. _Good people do what they do, not for reward or other gain. But because it is the right thing to do, Sheila. This is the right thing to do now. We will help you._

"But..." Sheila couldn't must the energy to articulate her concerns and she could feel the queen's amusement.

 _We have an ulterior motive._ The queen sounded distinctly amused now. Sheila stared at her and the queen chuckled.

 _How else can we learn that really cool music in your mind?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Trying**

Sheila was asleep at long last.

Jennifer and Illia had been right there when she had woken up crying. C-Flat Amethyst had also comforted the girl the best she could, which was pretty well. But Sheila's internal torment had been severe. She had been a medical specialist for most of her remembered life. A healer. She had seen horrors, helped others through horrors and to heal from them but she had never _inflicted_ horrors on others.

Her internal torment as so bad that the rachni had been forced to retreat a bit from the torrent of emotions that had torn through her. But Illia and Jennifer hadn't let go and finally, the girl had eased into a fitful sleep that the rachni had enhanced with just a hint of song. She would rest and between the rachni and Jennifer's skill with medicine, her sleep would be dreamless. After everything? This was the best thing for Sheila. Time and rest.

"Anya won't be happy." Jennifer said softly as she brushed a lock of hair out of the girl's face. Sheila did not react, she was completely out of it. She needed it after everything. "Girl is just a kid, no matter what she looks like."

"No one is going to be happy with this, Jeni." Illia sighed as she sat beside the bed, one hand on the rachni, the other on Jennifer's. "When Sheila wakes, we can track the link, find the clone."

"And then what?" Jennifer asked softly. "If she is linked to Sheila, if we hurt her or kill her, Sheila will feel it." Illia looked at her and Jennifer flushed. "I know, I know. I default to violence far too quickly."

"I would never want to change who you are, Jeni." Illia sighed. "But you do bother the rachni sometimes."

Jennifer looked at the rachni who did not move, her whip like appendage still touching Sheila. Jennifer knew from personal experience just how calming the rachni songs could be and right now? Sheila needed the calm.

"Yeah." Jennifer slumped a bit. "I bother myself sometimes. How long can one play a monster before the patterns become ingrained?" Her face was bleak as she looked at her mate. "I have looked into the Abyss, Illia and it looked back."

"I know." Illia didn't offer pity or empty platitudes. Such wasn't her way. "I like to think we have helped." She smirked at Jennifer's expression.

"Fishing for compliments, my heart?" Jennifer asked, her tone a leer. "That is..." She gasped as Illia tickled her. "Hey! No fair."

"You are the one who paraphrased Nietzsche." Illia was unrepentant as she wiggled her fingers at Jennifer who opened her mouth to retort. "Shhh!" Illia said sternly but quietly, indicating the slumbering girl.

"I never planned on what to do after, you know?" Jennifer kept her voice low. She relaxed as much as she could. "All I focused on was surviving." She chuckled without mirth. 'Well, that and working on ways to screw the Cerberus cell my parents ran."

"Every girl has to have a hobby." Illia said with a snort. Then she sobered. "But yeah. I never planned on the future. For me, it was always the job. Until I met the rachni, nothing else mattered. They showed me what I had been missing." Jennifer smiled at her and Illia smirked. "Although you were bit of a surprise."

"Eight hundred years old and you still don't know it all..." She gasped as Illia tickled her again. "Illia!" She complained softly.

"You are going to pay for that, wench." Illia had a nice throaty purr when she wished. "I am only seven hundred and fifty six." She retreated a little thought to give Jennifer a bit more space as the human stretched. "You know how the bureaucrats will react."

"Way to ruin the mood, Illia." Jennifer complained. "I knew the paperwork was going to be rough. And that was before a social worker was assaulted. This..." She heaved another deep sigh. "At least they have identified the nerve blocker that paralyzed Sheila's legs."

" _If_ they have." Illia cautioned. "We won't know until they test it and that has to wait for her to wake up and calm down."

"So many advances since the Reaper War." Jennifer said quietly. "I wondered… Sheila will have problems with what she did. It was excessive, even by my family's standards. The energy she wielded all came from her."

 _Yes._ C-Flat Amethyst agreed. She didn't need a physical connection to Jennifer not anymore since Illia and Jennifer had finally decided to quit hedging and get together formally. _I spoke with the other singer while we waited for Oracle to recover. She said that one_ _of_ _Sheila's parents was a powerful being who had a core of energy unlike anything we have seen._ _You are right, Jennifer. S_ _he_ **will** _have problems._

"So will we." Jennifer shook her head. "I could feel her power when I touched her. She had it under control, but..." She trailed off.

"Yeah. 'But'." Illia agreed. "I am getting too old to teach kids. I certainly don't want to get _barfed on_ again."

"But you told Anya it was fun." Jennifer teased. Illia swatted at her and Jennifer smiled at her mate. "Can't really blame you. Taking care of the twins is always a bit of a chore, even as fun as it was at times."

"Children are lot of work." Illia agreed. Jennifer looked at her and then looked away. "Jennifer, you are not ready for such a life."

"I know." Jennifer sighed deeply. "But I see Anya with her two and Portia, Melissa with Chris and her daughter and now, _Kai_ is expecting!" She slumped a bit. "I do love you, and I understand why you want to wait. Heck, I agree with it. I am not stable."

"Stable has nothing to do with it." Illia hugged Jennifer gently. "I have had children, Jennifer. I still have several daughters who survived the war. What we have is special and no matter our wishes, if we have a child, our relationship _will_ change. You are still, at your core Jennifer, a human raised in a horrible environment. You don't understand and you won't. Nothing against you. You cannot understand what it is to be a mother without going through it yourself. And even with rachni mind linking, there is no way that you will ever understand asari the way you understand your own species."

"I _don't_ understand my own species." Jennifer said darkly.

"And that is my point." Illia hugged her again. "You are a wonder, Jennifer Solinus. But you are not ready to settle down. Not everyone does."

"Just as well." Jennifer smiled as the rachni made a soothing noise from beside Sheila's bed. "Kai can't travel. Anya _shouldn't_ travel. Melissa doesn't _want_ to travel." She shrugged. "Glad I was there."

"Always others." Illia hugged her again. "You need to remember to focus on yourself, Jennifer."

"I spent most of my life focused on myself, Illia." Jennifer wasn't arguing. Not really. "I..." A soft chime interrupted her and she frowned, but hit her omni-tool. The face of the Sarge appeared on her screen. "Sarge?"

"We have a trio of docs requesting to talk to you, Ma'am." He said quietly. "They have a social services worker with them." Jennifer tensed and he continued. "This one checks out."

"I will be right out." Jennifer promised and rose, but paused as Illia ran a hand down her bodysuit. The places the asari slid her hand were not for public consumption. The com was still open, so Jennifer fought back the words she was going to say. She glared at Illia who grinned, unrepentant.

"Go on. We will stay with Sheila." Illia said quietly as she took Jennifer's place beside the bed. Jennifer nodded to her mate and strode to the door.

Outside, the private ward of the David Anderson Memorial hospital was quiet. The C-Sec guard at one side of the door nodded to her as the Sarge closed his omni-tool. The hospital room Sheila was in gave way to a larger common area. Three other rooms led off the area, but only one of those had a patient in it, a sorely hurt young Turian who had somehow escaped his parents' supervision and fallen into a large pool on the Presidium. Turians as a norm had no idea how to swim. Their bony skeletons were far denser than water and they tended to sink like stones. Luckily for this kid, a pair of human C-Sec officers had been nearby. One had dived in and dragged the drowning child to safety. But in the process of falling in, the boy had hit his head. Turian skulls were hard, but not that hard and his had been broken. He would likely make a full recovery, but would take time.

This hospital was dedicated for children and Jennifer hadn't even quibbled when the hospital had decided to put Sheila here. They had the best gear after all. The facilities had been built as an offshoot of Huerta Memorial after the war and had grown large enough to split off completely. They specialized in the care of younger beings of many races and were very good at it.

But there were downsides.

Jennifer nodded to the trio of doctors, two humans and a salarian, but her eyes lingered on the human who accompanied them who was not garbed as a doctor. The human woman was not known to her. But from the cast on her arm and the bruises on her face, she was the social worker the clone had assaulted.

"How is Sheila?" The woman asked before Jennifer could speak.

"She is sleeping." Jennifer indicated chairs nearby and the others moved to them, the human woman easing into hers gently. "Are you all right?"

"Not really." The human made a face, but waved when the doctors looked at her, worried. "I am alive. I am mobile. It hurts, but I am alive and that is good thing."

"Yes it is." Jennifer agreed. "I am Jennifer Solinus."

"Oh, I know who you are." The social worker grinned but it had a slight tinge of worry underneath. "Your infamy precedes you."

"Aren't reputations fun?" Jennifer wasn't really asking a question. "You are?"

"My name is Tanis Griliak."

Jennifer didn't even raise an eyebrow at the non-human surname. Many children had been orphaned in the course of the Reaper War. Many parents had lost children and in the course of recovery, the lines between species had blurred quite a bit. Jennifer knew of human children living with hanar, turian children living with volus, batarian children living with asari… The list went on and on.

Integrating the batarians into the Alliance had been a stroke of genius on someone's part. With their worlds and government gone, the few batarian survivors had been cursed to live the remainder of their squalid lives as refugees. But someone had decided to offer the Hegemony's survivors more than a life in a desolate camp on a remote colony somewhere. To be offered an _equal partnership_ … The batarians hadn't really had a clue how to respond, but they had eventually after more than few missteps and now? The majority of batarians were now a rock in the Systems Alliance. A solid group whose loyalty were unquestioned. Any of their number who dared to step out of line was policed by their own, brutally. They were not perfect any more than humans were, but their numbers had swelled until their species was no longer on the edge of extinction. Their loyalty and devotion to the Systems Alliance was on par with the drell's loyalty to the hanar and for much the same reasons. Being saved from extinction tended to garner a lot of good will.

"What can I do for you, social worker Griliak?" Jennifer was pretty sure she knew what was coming though. She knew bureaucracy.

"How old is Sheila?" The human asked softly. Jennifer looked at her and the human shook her head. "Look, I know what you are thinking and no. No one will try to take her away. We are worried about her."

"So am I." Jennifer agreed. "Yes, the genetic scans are clear. She is a minor. I haven't asked how old she is. We have been working to keep her calm, to let her rest."

"Her genetics are odd." The salarian doctor sounded worried. "We may not be able to help her properly."

"I know. She is a mess. Right now, all we can do is keep her calm and quiet. She needs that after being traumatized so badly." Jennifer took a deep breath. "C-Flat Amethyst is in there, keeping her dreams quiet."

"That is good." Griliak sighed. "I will need to do an assessment when she wakes."

"Social worker Griliak..." Jennifer paused "Are we private?"

"Call me Tanis please and..." The hurt human paused. "I don't know." She looked at the docs who shrugged.

"You know my family does some work for the Council." Jennifer spoke quietly and all four of the others nodded. It was an open secret that the Solinus family worked odd jobs for the Citadel Council on occasion. Rarely anything classified or nasty but occasionally, they had been called in when Specters were not available. The results of _those_ operations had led to an overblown reputation that was useful every so often. It also opened the family up to having far better gear than normal civilians. "Sarge. Emcon. I am about to flash."

The sergeant nodded and spoke to the turian C-Sec officer beside him who jerked and started shutting things down quickly. A few moments later, both nodded to Jennifer who keyed her own omni-tool. A wave of blue energy washed out from it to encompass the room in its entirety. Jennifer's eyes narrowed as two places sparked then smoked. From the locations, video cameras or microphones would have coverage over much of the area. Someone had bugged the room. The Sarge cursed and moved to check those spots visually. He was shaking his head as he returned to his place.

"Can't tell much without sensors, Ma'am, but those don't look military." The soldier said with a growl.

"Once we are done talking, you can check them out thoroughly." Jennifer shrugged. "For now, passive only. My countermeasures will hash any active stuff you use."

"Good thing not everyone has access to that stuff." The Sarge shuddered a bit but resumed his place.

"You know how it is." Jennifer groaned. "Someone builds a better sensor, someone else builds a better countermeasure. Keeps the geeks busy." The Sarge chuckled, but without mirth. Jennifer stretched and then focused on the social worker who was staring at her, somewhere between awe and worry. "Don't fear me, Tanis. I am not your enemy. We are on the same team here. We both want to help Sheila."

"Yes, we do." Tanis relaxed and blew out a deep breath. "Where is Sheila from?"

"We are not sure." Jennifer made a face. "Best guess? An alternate universe." At _that_ , everyone in the room tensed.

"That is a bold assertion." The salarian doctor said slowly.

"It is the only conclusion that fits the known facts." Jennifer wasn't sure if the others understood, but the salarian did from the look on his face. "I cannot go into them all, but she is not from here.'" She pointed at the floor. "She simply appeared in our airlock and we have been trying to figure out how the one who dropped her off did so. We have got nothing."

"Nothing." Tanis blurted. "Your family..." She broke off and blanched. Jennifer waved that aside.

"Yes, my family has some _very_ odd friends." Jennifer enjoyed the look of discomfort that cross the others' faces, but then again, at heart, she wasn't a very nice person sometimes. "There were no stealthed ships. The airlock did not open. She was simply _there_."

"That is not possible." One of the human doctors said softly.

"For _us_." Jennifer agreed. "Thing is, I talked with a woman who claimed to be Sheila's mother and _she_ wasn't there. It was not a hallucination. It has happened more than once, and I have witnesses."

"So she does have a family." Tanis relaxed. "That is good." Then she paused as Jennifer grimaced. "Isn't it?"

"It is." Jennifer picked her words with care. "The problem is that the one who took Sheila and gave her to the one who hurt her intended Sheila to be a weapon _against_ her family." At that, _everyone_ inhaled sharply and one of the humans made a religious motion with her hands.

"Can they help her?" Tanis asked, her face ashen.

"She is stuck here for the moment." Jennifer sidestepped the question. She was sure that Tanis noticed and the salarian did as well. The others were focused on Sheila's hurts. "She cannot go back because we have no idea how to get her there. So that makes her our problem. Anya has said that she will do whatever it takes to help the girl and no one wants to get in her way."

"So what can we do?" The salarian doctor asked when no one else spoke. "Even if she is from an alternate universe, and yes, keeping _that_ quiet will be a _very_ good idea." Her looked at his colleagues who nodded. Tanis nodded emphatically. "We can treat her wounds. We believe we have found an antagonist for the nerve blocker that kept her legs from functioning. What else can we do?"

"Right now, she needs calm and quiet." Jennifer said sadly. "She was abused. My family knows a bit about that." All three doctors looked sick, but nodded. Tanis looked curious, but kept her silence. "She was attacked again less than an hour ago, mentally." The Sarge cursed softly and Jennifer nodded. "She fought it off, but she is very weak now."

"So what _can_ we do?" Tanis begged.

"We find the one who hurt her and you."

"Then we have a _talk_ with that one."


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the delay. Lots of people don't like Mass Effect Andromeda. But I DO. It takes a while to get going, and many reviewers didn't bother to get that far. It has number of oddities and bugs, but I am STILL having fun on my second playthrough.**

* * *

 **Fates**

Sheila felt good.

She knew part of that was the drugs. The docs had been gentle and had been astonished at her own knowledge of how the human body worked. But once they accepted her knowledge level -which she had been candid about her own limits in-, they had included her in her own treatment. This was a good thing, very different from most of the Corpus and even many of the Tenno medical professionals she had dealt with. Only in the tiny clan of Tenno that she had become closely involved with had she found near instant acceptance of her skill.

The docs here, wherever the hell this Citadel was, were highly competent and not afraid to ask questions. There were many she could not answer. She was a general medic, not a specialist after all. But the physical part of her ordeals was easing. The pain was controlled and the wounds had been healed with skill that even a Tenno healer would likely envy. She wished Iriana could talk to these doctors, she bet both the Tenno healer and the Citadel docs would learn great deal from each other.

They had disconnected the brain scanning device when they had determined that her throat was working as it should. Being able to talk again normally had made Sheilas day, even with all of the other stuff. After they had finished checking her throat, they had started a treatment that they thought would restore function to her legs, but that would take time since the substance involved was highly toxic in anything other than minuscule doses. Best guess was that she would be able to move in a day, probably have full function a day or so after, but no one wanted to take chances.

She felt a pang of homesickness and focused on the feelings. Her talk with the social worker, Tanis, had been an eye opener. She had not expected the woman to be so kind and gentle, but she was. It made sense in hindsight. The woman knew a great deal about Sheila felt about her ordeals. She had nearly been killed by the same one who hurt Sheila. The older human didn't know exactly how the girl felt of course and for that? Sheila was grateful She didn't wish pain on anyone. Except maybe Stalker and the one who had hurt her. She was…

Something beeped nearby and Sheila relaxed against her will as a mild sedative was injected somehow. She had no idea how. There were no tubes, no direct feeds into her blood stream. But she needed the calm and had totally agreed with the docs when they had explained about the calming agents. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt someone else.

She didn't even want to hurt the clone again. Most of the time anyway.

She jerked awake, she had dozed off! She stared around and went still. She wasn't alone. But the red haired woman who sat in the chair nearby was smiling at her. She had a hard looking face but it was crinkled with lines that suggested she smiled a lot too.

"Hello Sheila. My name is Jane." The woman said with a nod. Her armor's chest had a weird symbol. It looked like an N and a 7.

"I am sorry!" Sheila said quickly. "I didn't mean to doze off."

"Since when is it _your_ fault that someone _else_ hurt you?" The other sounded honestly curious. Sheila stared at her and the woman put on an expression that was half grin, half grimace. "It is not your fault. Such injuries take it out of you. Believe me, I know."

Sheila realized two things. One, the woman wore armor. That made her a cop or soldier. Jennifer wouldn't allow anyone else in here with her and certainly not alone. Second? Jennifer wasn't in the room. Sheila tensed, but the woman held up a hand.

"Jennifer is taking a nap." Jane said with a frown. "She really needed it. She hasn't slept much since you were found. Illia is with her. They asked a few others that they trust to keep an eye on you. You don't know me, so a sense of caution is warranted. But I am no threat to you and I will prove it." She looked away for a moment and then Sheila relaxed as a familiar song sounded in her head. Rachni.

 _Jane is a friend, Sheila_ C-Flat Amethyst said gently. _Illia and Jennifer are sleeping. The guards are on watch. As am I. You are safe._

"Thank you." Sheila said with a sigh of relief. A feeling of compassion and reassurance swept through her as the rachni song vanished. She looked at Jane and then sighed again. "Being bedridden sucks."

"That it does." Jane agreed. "At least you don't have tubes running into nasty places. Can you move your legs yet?"

Sheila looked down at her legs. She could see them, but they were still the lumps of flesh that had been. She could feel them but not move them.

"No." Sheila slumped a bit. "Odd that I can feel them, but not move them. Tight control of the nerves."

"Such control is evil." Jane agreed. "Then again, cutting your throat that way was not the mark of a compassionate person either." Sheila rubbed her throat and nodded. There was something about the woman that was bothering Sheila, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Jane tilted her head in query at Sheila's gaze. "Yes?"

"Why aren't your eyes glowing?" Sheila asked as it suddenly dawned on her that the other's eyes were were pure green, no glow at all. She didn't have any circuitry glowing on her visible skin either.

"Um… Probably because I died before the pulse went out that hit everyone and made their eyes glow." Jane replied. Sheila looked at her, nodded slowly and then forced herself to relax. Jane just looked at her." That doesn't bother you?"

"On one level it does." Sheila admitted. "But after all the other weirdness I have seen? C-Flat Amethyst vouches for you and you haven't done anything to hurt or scare me." She shrugged and then winced as a taut muscle protested. Jane looked at her and Sheila shook her head. "I need to get up soon or I will start to get flabby. As it is, my body is protesting the lack of exercise."

"Been there, done that." Jane laughed, but there was little humor in it. "The human body is a weird thing." She looked at Sheila for a moment and then looked away. "You know that."

"Yeah." Sheila sank back into her bed and closed her eyes. "I wish I could wave my hands and suddenly be home."

"Better than tapping your heels together three times." Sheila could see Jane's smile even with her eyes closed and she felt her own mouth twitch. "There is no magic spell or miracle tech that we know of for this situation, so we just have to muddle through."

"I know that feeling." Sheila sighed and then shifted herself a bit more. "I wouldn't have thought Jennifer would have left me alone. I don't know what is going on in my head. Even with the drugs, I still feel off." She slitted her eyes and glared at Jane. "I feel angry and weak and… I don't know all of the these feelings. _I hate this!_ " She exclaimed and then blanched, but Jane did not react.

"I am here because I _do_ know about such things. Jennifer and her mate both needed the sleep." Jane didn't seem offended by Sheila's ire. "So did you. Sheila, your body is changing. From what Jennifer said, this is not your original one?" Sheila shook her head silently and Jane nodded. "Good. Let's keep your origin as quiet as we can. I don't think anyone would intentionally hurt you these days, but scientists can be incredibly pushy."

"No." Sheila's word dripped sarcasm and Jane laughed.

"Dealt with such yourself, huh?" Jane asked and Sheila nodded, closing her eyes again. "Sleep if you can, Sheila. I am here. You are not alone."

"Thanks, I..." Sheila gasped as an unfamiliar sensation swept through her. More than one and centered on her groin! "What the-? I..."

She was hot and cold. She felt… She hissed as the feelings percolated through her. She was feeling the same things as she had when the clone had abused her. Sheila was panting as Jane reached for her hand. She gasped in relief as the sensations vanished.

"They did not catch her." Sheila said weakly as she fought for breath.

"No." Jane's hand seemed to pass through her and the apparition shook her head. "We can shield you a bit, but it won't last. She has a direct link to your mind."

"So… she is corrupting me," Sheila slumped in the bed. Jane nodded. "I don't want these feelings! I am not human! I don't want to do this!"

"Hold that thought, Sheila." Jane said sharply. "Hold it _tight_. You think it is wrong, what she did. If you start thinking it is right or justified or whatever..."

"Then she wins and I become something too horrible for words." Sheila turned her head and tried to bury her face in her pillow. "Why is she doing this?" She demanded plaintively.

"I don't know, Sheila." Jane was sad. "I am not human anymore myself. Or…. Not entirely human. I remember _being_ human, but the sensations are slipping away despite my enhanced memory." Sheila felt horror dawn and Jane nodded. "I died but part of me lived on. What I did was needed, but I do regret a lot of what happened. It was a war and a bad one, and we won, so I guess it was worth it. Life goes on. My mate has found another that he can be physical with." She paused and made a face. "If she ever gets off her duff and accepts his help anyway."

"Long story there." Sheila muttered and then slowly, ever so slowly, managed to get her thudding heart to slow. She frowned a little. "So we are reversed. I am stuck in a meat body and you are stuck without one."

"Pretty much." Jane agreed with a matching frown. "That doesn't mean I am powerless and I cannot simply sit by and do nothing while bad things happen. That hasn't changed about me. Thank god!"

"Something else we share then." Sheila sighed and forced herself to relax fully. "She will keep doing it."

"Her kind don't generally stop of their own accord." Jane agreed. "Usually, they have to _be_ stopped."

"Jennifer and Illia think I can track her." Sheila said slowly. She paused as Jane shook her head emphatically. "What?"

"Sheila, we do not know what she did. Not entirely. Proximity may enhance her control." Jane was being entirely reasonable and Sheila fought back her anger. It wasn't aimed at Jane. Not really. Part of it was what was being done to her, the rest? It wasn't _hers!_ She realized with a jolt. Jane eyed her. "What?"

"The link works both ways." Sheila said slowly. "I can feel her. Can I… try to change _her_?" Jane shook her head slowly. "I have to do _something!_ "

"Right now, Sheila, your priority is to heal." Jane was being reasonable and Sheila tried hard not to hate her for it. "Your wounds are healed, but your legs will take more time to regain function. Add to that, Jennifer told me you are a nurse, not a mental health professional. Would you know what to do or how?"

"No." Sheila admitted a bit sheepishly. "I just… I do not want to lie here and let her do her worst to me. I want to _do_ something."

"Well..." Jane drawled the word out a little. "Like I said, we do not have any magic words to make it all better, but we can do something about the rest of it. Hold onto you lunch." Her hand reached for Sheila again and this time, there was a connection. Sheila jerked as the world fell away.

It wasn't like the virtual worlds she had seen before. This time, when she could focus again, she stood on a green glowing square of some kind of energy. It was barely large enough for her to stand on, but before she could do more than gawk at it, it was surrounded by dozens, hundreds, of similar squares. Her eyes went huge as the squares formed first a floor, then wall s and a ceiling. She stared as the greenish glowing surfaces changed slowly from bare metallic colors to warm, inviting ones. Jane appeared nearby, her face worried, but she smiled as Sheila did. Sheila nodded as a couch appeared on the floor beside her and two other chairs appeared nearby. Nothing else appeared and the things that had solidified from green glowing energy into comfortable looking furniture. The room was large but not overwhelming. The greenish light changed to warm white and the room felt comfortable, close and safe.

"A virtual world?" Sheila asked as she looked around. The room was still morphing. She could see things appearing on the walls, holo images of some kind.

"Yeah." Jane nodded. "To us, this is new tech, but you do not seem surprised."

"I have seen such before." Sheila said carefully. "I am not sure what to say or how."

"Smart." Jane agreed. "Thing is, Anya pledged her aid to you and that means a lot of people are going to be falling all over themselves to help." She smirked. "If just to stay on her good side. She isn't the Council, but no one just ignores that woman and doesn't regret it."

"I think I might like to meet this Anya. Or maybe not if she is that scary." Sheila mused. Jane nodded with a wider smile. "So… now what?"

"Now we talk to someone who understands more about how human minds work than anyone else I know." Jane shrugged as Sheila stared at her. "Even the rachni are not as practiced. Mind you, the rachni are generally far more gentle, but they they are focused on their music, not on manipulating minds."

"And this one is?"

Sheila gave an eep as a huge form appeared hovering over them both. It was massive, far larger than the room should have been able to hold. She had the impression of legs, of far too many eyes. Of a long body that looked sort of insect-like but not quite. It suddenly shrank from whatever the hell it was into a humanoid form composed of transparent white energy. It shifted a bit and the proportions appeared almost male.

"Yes, child." The energy form said quietly as it sat in one of the chairs. It was obviously doing so for her benefit, since energy forms did not need to do anything like that. "My name is Catalyst and I am here to help if I can."

"I don't see how anyone can." Sheila snapped, trying to get past the sudden rush of anger that surged through her. It wasn't hers. She knew that. The other was seeing and hearing through her.

"I died, Sheila." Jane said quietly, not moving from where she stood. "I threw myself into a beam of energy that dissolved my form into its constituents." She nodded to the other. "It fulfilled its purpose and shut down after the pulse that I triggered went out. We both came back."

"I don't understand." Sheila felt a matching confusion from the other in her mind.

"C-Sec officers cannot find the one who is merged with you." The one who called itself Catalyst said quietly. "I can." Fear tore through Sheila and then a sense of flight, but the girl did not react. "She can run, but she cannot hide from me. I have her. I am the Citadel. I serve the Citadel. She cannot do evil within my form and not be found. They are closing the net on her as we speak. But she is not the important one now, child. You are."

Sheila jerked as pain flared through her, but it felt odd. It wasn't hers! Jane moved to stand beside her as she gasped and then relaxed as the pain vanished.

"What?" Sheila asked as she relaxed fully for the first time since waking.

"C-Sec has her." Catalyst said with a nod. "They will keep her sedated while we talk. You need help, child." It nodded tot he couch. "Sit. Let us talk. We can find the roots of what she did to your mind. We can undo it. We have disabled the nanites that she put inside you but the psychological hurts must be eased as well."

"And you are going to do that." Sheila said flatly.

"Yes." Catalyst replied. Jane shook her head, but did not speak.

"Why?" Sheila demanded.

"This is my purpose now." Catalyst replied. '"When I was rebuilt, the various races wanted to punish me for what had been done. I followed my programming. No more."

"You slaughtered thousands of civilizations. Uncounted sentients. And for what? To impose your idea of order on life." Jane's tone was hard and cold now, but Sheila was oddly comforted by that. The woman was on her side. "Hard to blame them for wanting revenge."

"Revenge is inefficient." Catalyst replied as it focused on Sheila. "This will not be pleasant for you, but we will find and destroy the link between your mind and hers."

"You can do that?" Sheila asked slowly. Both Jane and the Catalyst nodded. "And what is to keep you from enslaving me?"

"Two things." The Catalyst replied. "One, my programming is to heal now. I was rebuilt to serve the Citadel and its Council. Two? Jane has my shutdown codes."

Sheila stared at Jane who nodded.

"The Council was torn on this, Sheila." Jane said with a sigh.

"But I was a Spectre. We don't _get_ easy jobs."

* * *

 **We all know who Jane is/was.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Mind Matters  
**

Sheila would have screamed if she had been capable of it.

She wasn't.

As soon as she lay down on the couch, the transparent form that called itself Catalyst had reached out to take her head in its insubstantial hands. As soon as that had happened, she had lost control over every single muscle in her body. That had been bead enough, even when Jane had taken Sheila's hand in her own and squeezed it gently. But what had come next was worse. Far worse.

Sheila felt energy of some kind prying into her mind. Deep, deeper than any Clergy mind probe, indeed, deeper than the rachni had gone. She could feel it boring through everything that made her who and what she was. Then the really bad part had started.

She had seen her first coherent memory relived as if it had just happened moments ago. She was in a dark place, a closet she had later been told. She had somehow managed to break free of the bonds that had held her in the laboratory where she had been created. She had hurt some of the techs who had been hurting her and fled. She didn't know how badly she had hurt them and frankly? She didn't care. There were limits to her compassion and those techs deserved what they got in her opinion.

She paused. That wasn't true. The techs had about as much volition after Corpus indoctrination as a MOA did. Maybe less. MOAs had a bit of autonomy at times, most Corpus soldiers did not. She hated the executives who had ordered her cloned, her body crippled and shoved into a small black box that was then mounted into a monstrous and flawed weapon. But the techs were just doing what they were told. Most of them probably hadn't had a clue what was actually inside the MOA they were working on. They probably would have been horrified to find out the organic bits were a little girl's brain. Not that their work would have changed, mind you. But they would have likely been horrified. Which was why the executives in charge hadn't told them about that part.

A gasp from nearby had Sheila's awareness pulled out of her memory. Jane was crying softly.

"Oh, my god, Sheila..." Jane said through her tears. "I had no _idea_!"

Sheila would have gone numb, if she hadn't already been there. Jane could see her memories? That wasn't a good thing. But then, a true horror surfaced in Sheila's mind and she recoiled from it. In the memory she could see, Janet had found Sheila crying in that closet, had spirited the girl in MOA from away from the lab of horrors and taken her to the Clergy to get help. But the face that appeared in Sheila's vision wasn't _Janet's_! It was the _clone's_!

Something happened and Sheila was jerked away from the memory even as she screamed a silent denial. She was swirling, floating, flying through memory after memory. Good, bad, indifferent, every scene where Janet had appeared the clone replaced her. Even with her advanced memory and training in mental control, Sheila could not keep up with the torrent of images. She was losing herself even as a distant part of herself felt wetness falling down her face.

Something wiped her face, pulling her a little out of the memories again. The flow of altered memories ebbed and stopped.

"Now the rough part." Jane sounded apologetic. For a moment, the words did not register. Then Sheila tried to tense to no avail. She could not move at all, but she could feel energy gathering around her again. "I am here, Sheila. You are not alone."

Pure undiluted agony tore through Sheila's mind. Then, impossibly, it got _worse_. She had no words for the feelings that tore through her. 'Pain' simply didn't do them justice. She barely noticed the memories playing again, this time white hot spikes of power surged through them as they played. She had no idea what was happening or why, only that she was hurting and she couldn't do anything about it.

After an eternity of screaming into the silence in her head, Sheila gasped as the pain ebbed.

"I tell you, she needs a break!" Jane's irate voice slammed into Sheila with all the subtlety of a Fragor hammer wielded by an angry Tenno. "The vote to bring you back was evenly split and Tevos spoke quite eloquently about second chances. If you drive this girl mad, Tevos will be the _first_ to say turn you off. This is your _only_ chance. Don't squander it."

"Taking time away from the task is inefficient." The Catalyst sounded as calm as ever. It had to be an AI. Nothing else was ever quite so calm. Sheila had always envied AIs the calm they had.

"You were put back together over strenuous objections by a _lot_ of people. Myself _included_." Jane retorted angrily. "After what you did, _no one_ would have _blinked_ if the Council had simply pulled the plug after your code was found in that backup. You and your damn Synthesis. Nothing has changed!"

"Everything has changed, human." The Catalyst replied. "The purpose was fulfilled With the help of the Council and the technicians under its supervision, I have found a new purpose in removing Indoctrination from thralls."

" _They_ don't scream like she is right now inside her mind!" Jane snapped. " _Do they?_ " She demanded, suddenly suspicious.

"This is not and cannot be a gentle process, Spectre." The Catalyst replied, still so maddeningly calm. "The Indoctrination that the Reapers imposed was well known and straightforward to counter if delicate and time consuming. This is something else. This one who abused this girl tried to replace every single memory of those that the girl regards fondly with herself."

"That does not make sense!" Jane sounded somewhere between derision and horror.

"There are always those whose tendencies lie outside of civilized norms. This is another method of control and somewhat less pervasive than the Illusive Man's methods were." The AI replied. "This is a method of mental control that has not been encountered. The method bears study."

"Make scans." Jane gritted out. "But undo it. Now." That was not a request. "Sheila, I am sorry, but we need to do this. Hold on girl. Hold on."

Fresh agony bit deep and held on as Sheila screamed in her mind. All she could do was cry as memory after memory flashed through her mind far too quickly for her organic mind to process. She felt more and more of who and what she was slipping away as the memories that she most treasured were pulled past her without even a chance to review them.

 _That is it, little one._ A hated voice sounded in Sheila's mind! The _clone! Just relax and let_ _me_ _take you in. You will be loved. You will belong. You will never be free of me and soon, you will not want to be._

"No!" Jane snapped as something took hold of Sheila's mind. She had no words for it. "Sheila. This is going to do something that we cannot control, but we are out of options. Catalyst. Now."

Without sense of transition, Sheila was lying on a floor. It felt familiar. A portal chamber. She had been through a bunch of those in her time among the Tenno. She felt familiar. She stared at herself and she was encased in a MOA body again. She was surrounded by strangers all of whom were staring at her with expressions that ran the gamut form awed to horrified. The MOA form she was inhabiting as a simple one, no weapons or defenses. Indeed, it had little more than her organic bits…

Wait a moment! Her organic bits? How the hell had that happened? She had been in the middle of a _Tenno dojo_ and then somewhere else with tight security as well! The worry faded along with the memory. _She_ faded. She felt detached. Separate from herself. Odd, but it didn't feel bad. Just weird.

"Ah… Sheila?" One of the watchers asked slowly. He was a pale skinned, dark haired human. He was wearing a bodysuit but it wasn't any color she knew. She was in the presence of strangers, in an unknown place with no idea of how she had arrived or how to go back. Sheila knew that. But her emotions were all wrong. She couldn't feel anything. She had been in pain, she remembered that. But the memory faded as well. She couldn't feel anything. Was that an improvement?

"That is this unit's current designation." Sheila replied. Her voice was wrong. It was completely robotic. More than one of the watchers recoiled from her.

"We were told a medic named Sheila would be arriving to help us." The man said slowly. "You are medic Sheila?"

"This unit's designation is Sheila." The MOA repeated.

"Something is wrong." A woman standing near the side of the room said sharply. "She is supposed to be a girl inside that. She is not acting like a girl. She should be scared, surprised, _something_! This isn't a girl, this is a robot."

"I know, Kerry." The man said with a sigh. "Medic Sheila, we need your help. We were told you would be sent to aid us." Sheila did not respond. There did not seem to be any reason to. She hadn't been asked any questions. The man shook his head. "Sheila, can you help us?"

"Unable to comply. Request parameters." Sheila's response seemed to baffle the man.

"Shut it, Simon." The woman Kerry said with a snarl. "Sheila, you are a MOA. What are you capabilities?"

"This unit is a standard mobile autonomous automaton." Sheila replied. "It is highly modular and able to be customized for almost any task the customer desires." Despite everything, Sheila was amazed. Where the hell had _that_ come from? It sounded like a sales pitch instead of her usual self.

"And?" Kerry demanded.

"Unable to clarify without further information." Sheila replied.

"Are you a nurse?" Simon asked carefully.

"No." Sheila couldn't understand why these humans were getting agitated.

"Call him." Kerry moved to stand by Sheila scrutinizing the MOA closely. "Something has gone very wrong. This isn't who we were expecting."

"The Corpus and Grineer are still fighting out there." Simon said with a sigh. "But you are right. This is not who we were expecting." He shook his head. "Sheila, I need you to come with me. There is a problem and I think you can help with it." He paused. "Will you come with me?"

"This unit will comply." Sheila replied. The man nodded and started off. Sheila started walking as well, matching his steps.

"This is not going to end well." Kerry muttered as she took up position beside Sheila and followed the girl out of the room.

"And having Tenno storm in here _did_?" Simon reply sounded like an old, tired argument.

"They didn't kill anyone." Kerry sounded upset. "They only took the traitor then they left. That didn't make any sense."

"Anisette betraying us didn't make any sense." Simon retorted. "I get that the clone has been far more trouble than she was worth, to everyone. But Anisette didn't hurt anyone. So why did she do that?"

"Because this one's adoptive mother reacted very badly to her being hurt." Both humans stopped as a red and black armored form strode into view. Sheila stopped with them. Stalker looked at Sheila and then shook his head. "What happened?"

"She appeared as you said she would, but this is not a medical MOA and she is not reacting as expected." Simon bowed his head a little.

"No, it is not and no, she is not. She has always been scared of me. With reason, but this? No. This is wrong." Stalker reached out to touch Sheila's hull. She did not react and he shook his head."Sheila. Status?"

"This unit is fully operational." Sheila replied. Stalker recoiled from her.

"What the hell did that stupid clone do now?" Stalker demanded angrily of no one. "She is acting as if her higher level functions have been suppressed or..." He paused and then hissed. "Or deleted."

"Sir… If Oracle sees _this_..." Kerry sounded terrified.

"I know." Stalker heaved a sigh. "Obviously the clone did something more. We have to find out what and fix it. Fast. Or Oracle's vengeance will fall on us all. The only good news is that she cannot see clearly when people she cares for are involved. But that will not stop her. Very little _can_." He actually shivered. "I wasn't planning on doing this, Sheila, and it is a very bad idea. But it may be your only chance."

He touched her hull again and this time, orange energy sank through it from his fingers. Sheila could feel the power seeping through her form until it reached her organic parts and then…

Sheila screamed in pain and fear as her mind unlocked from whatever had been done to it. She recoiled away from Stalker. She continued to scream as she retreated. Neither of the humans or the sort of warframe followed her. She kept backing up until her hull contacted the wall behind her and then she sidled along it, maintaining her view of the boogeyman of the Tenno. She reached out to the Clergy and felt a blank wall where the music had been. Her screams mixed loss and terror.

"Stop." Stalker said calmly and Sheila felt panic rise as her body obeyed him. She tried to keep moving, tried to keep screaming and she couldn't! "I didn't want to do it, girl, but I had no choice. Whatever was done to you forcibly bypassed your mind. I had to reset the connection and in doing so, I took control of your housing. You can talk now."

" _You bastard!_ " Sheila screamed. Stalker waved and her voice shut off again. She still screamed, but silently even as she railed against the bonds holding her.

"Technically not true." Stalker sounded calm, but his posture was tense. "I had parents and I am reasonably sure they were married. I know you are scared. I know you are confused. I know you feel I just enslaved you and to an extent I did. I need to fix my mistake, Sheila. These people are counting on me to fix my mistake."

"It wasn't your fault, Master." Kerry said quickly. "No one could have foreseen that happening."

Sheila was stunned. This woman called Stalker 'Master', but… What was going on here? Neither of them seemed to be enslaved like Sheila was.

"Actions have consequences, Penitent Kerry." Stalker replied evenly as he took a step towards Sheila who tried to retreat and could not make her body move. "I brought the clone here thinking she would help to make the colony better. I did not know how deep her madness ran. I thought I could control her, I was wrong and the colony has paid for my mistake. My vengeance must come first, but this one is innocent of any wrongdoing. Indeed, she was violated by the evil clone as badly or worse than any of your people have been."

"Sheila is a _robot_. How could she-?" Simon choked off as Kerry sobbed a little.

"What she did here to your compatriots was physical." Stalker said heavily. "Those wounds are bad, no question. But what was done to this gentle medic was a horror on par with anything the worst of the Orokin might have done. It was in her mind and I do not know how to heal that. I do not know if anyone does." Those quiet words stunned Sheila out of her fear and rage. The clone had done this to others? Here? Stalker nodded to her. "Yes. She did it here too. I stopped her as soon as I realized, but the damage had been done. To Penitent Kerry here among others."

Sheila managed to spin her housing to stare at the now crying woman. Her face bore the marks of old scars, well healed, but extensive.

"How old is she, master?" Kerry begged as she stepped towards Sheila.

"She is almost four, Kerry." Stalker's tone sang of regret. Simon and Kerry both stiffened at that but then Kerry threw her arms around the MOA and hugged it tight. "I frighten her. With reason. I will leave, but before I do. Simon. I am giving you control of her form. Do no use that control unless you must to save her life or others. You have seen how such hurts people." A haze of orange passed from Stalker to Simon and then the kinslayer simply vanished.

Simon and Kerry looked at one another and then Simon spoke. "Sheila? Please. Don't try to run. We need your help. Please." He looked confused as Sheila did not respond. Kerry snarled at him and hugged Sheila tighter.

"She can't talk, idiot!" Kerry snapped." Let her talk." Simon stared at the MOA, wide eyed and then nodded. Sheila felt her voice relax and she was suddenly babbling.

"Pleasedon'thurtmepleasedon'thurtmepleasedon'thurtme..." Sheila repeated over and over as fast as she could, crying all the while.

"Easy, easy." Kerry crooned to her. "We won't. Girl. Sheila. It is all right. We won't hurt you." Her hands rubbed Sheila's housing in a way that was meant to soothe. It didn't work, but her words did calm Sheila little.

"You are with him." Sheila managed to snarl that between sobs.

"He saved our lives, so yes." Simon took a step, but froze when Kerry snarled at him. He stayed where he was. "He didn't plan on us swearing to him, but he does use us. He has helped us a great deal. Just this last thing went bad."

"He kills people!" Sheila did not -quite- scream that. "He kills my _friends!_ "

"Yes, he does." Kerry didn't bother to sugar coat it or try to lie. "But he won't kill you."

"We need you."


	14. Chapter 14

**Lesser evils  
**

Sheila was even more confused than she had been before and that was saying something.

She was bound by the controls that Stalker had placed in her hull. But the ones who surrounded her kept begging her not to make them use them. She was trapped somewhere that she had never seen, with a bunch of total strangers. But the two humans, Kerry and Simon, were kind and gentle. She could not contact anyone and she was terrified by all of this. But she was also bemused. These two really seemed to be trying to win her trust.

Which made no sense at _all!_

"I don't consume food, Kerry." Sheila said after the woman offered her some. "What do you want?" She demanded for the fourth time.

The two humans looked at one another and then in unison, sighed. Simon looked away while Kerry reached out to lay a hand on Sheila's housing. Sheila could have recoiled, but she was fairly sure that the woman would not hurt her. Not that she could escape this place.

"I do not understand it all." Kerry said quietly. "I am not a medical professional. But there is a sickness here that has infected everyone." Sheila tensed and Kerry shook her head. "It is no infectious _now_ according to every scan and professional that we have talked to. Including the clone."

"Is that why she was brought here?" Sheila asked, her voice taut. Kerry and Simon nodded. "And...she did what?"

"At first, she helped the survivors recover." Simon was quiet, sad. "Most of our children died in the epidemic." Kerry bowed her head and nodded. "But then, she started doing things."

"Hurting people." Sheila corrected. Simon made a face and nodded. "What did she do?" Sheila didn't want to know, not really. But if she was supposed to help these people, then this might be her only way out of here.

"I was lost in my grief." Kerry's tone was resigned now. "I wasn't eating, wasn't drinking. I was barely sleeping." Sheila looked at her and Kerry nodded. "The sickness took my son, Nicholas. He would have been your age."

"I am sorry." Sheila's instant condolence was heartfelt and Kerry smiled a bit forlornly.

"We didn't understand what she was doing." Simon shook his head. "I mean, she was a doctor. Her methods were harsh, but she did pull Kerry and others out of their grief and get them functioning again."

"And then?" Sheila asked slowly.

"I..." Kerry slumped a bit. "I helped her for a while. She told me that if I helped her, it would keep me busy, help me learn to cope. In so far as that went, that was true."

"Helping her do _what?_ " Sheila demanded.

"Tending the kids who are left." Kerry's voice was barely audible. "We couldn't lose any more, you see." Sheila swiveled her main sensor housing from Kerry to Simon and back. "We… um… The sickness left us all sterile." She faltered.

"And?" Sheila snapped, patience fleeing.

"We put the kids into isolation as soon as we realized there was a problem." Simon replied, not put off at all by Sheila's tone. "They are still infectious, but they are not sterile."

"If the sickness was killing people..." Sheila paused as horror started to dawn. "Oh no… You _didn't!_ "

"They are all in stasis." Kerry said weakly. "Not even the clone could hurt them there. I don't know if she tried. The isolation wards are off limits to our people. Only the master's servants and medical professionals are allowed in those wards."

"Well, I am certainly not one of his servants!" Sheila snapped. "And if you put _kids_ into a waking hell of stasis..." Not all forms of stasis put the subject to sleep. If they were _awake_ and _aware_ … Oh dear.

"They are asleep." Kerry said sadly. "And they will remain asleep until we can find a cure."

"I am not an epidemiologist!" Sheila said flatly. When both looked blank, she clarified. "A doctor who studies diseases. I am a nurse. I can tend patients, treat them if given a plan to do so. I don't know enough about this situation to make any good decision though."

"Will you at least try to help the kids?" Kerry begged. "My own is gone, but there are dozen more who are still alive."

"Kerry, if they are in stasis, anything I do may hurt them worse." Sheila argued. Kerry's sudden look of desolation shook Sheila to the core. "I… I don't want to help Stalker. He has hurt my friends, killed my friends. He is the direct reason my genetic donor is dead." Kerry stared at her and Sheila continued. "He lied to the kindest, gentlest being I have ever met and then _left her_ to raise their daughter alone."Kerry and Simon both recoiled at that, but Sheila wasn't done. "When his daughter was found to have a cancer, he used Sentient tech on my genetic donor to make her help. I was there when she died. When the Tenno had no choice but to kill her to keep the tech from growing out of her brain! I won't help him."

"If the Betrayers killed her..." Simon started, only to be cut off.

"They haven't betrayed _me!_ " Sheila all but threw the words at him. "They _protected_ me, _gave_ me a home, somewhere I could feel safe. Stalker has lied to me, hurt me, tried to abduct me before. I won't-" Her words cut off as Simon raised a hand and she suddenly couldn't speak. Or move! Kerry cried out in sudden fear.

"Simon! _No!_ " The woman moved between Simon and Sheila for all the good that would do. "She is Oracle's daughter! You can't!"

" _My_ son is in one of those pods!" Simon said through clenched teeth. "She will help. She has to."

"You are going to get us all killed!" Kerry said with a snarl. "Let her _go!_ "

"We need her to tend the kids." Simon said flatly. "Kerry, move. I am taking her to the wards."

"No!" Kerry threw her arms around Sheila. "She has to do it of her own free will. We cannot enslave her, Simon. You know what the Master said Oracle will do if we do that."

"Without those kids we have no future, Kerry. You know this." Simon said flatly. "Sheila, this way." He waved and Sheila's body started walking without her commands. She was panicking but Kerry was worse.

"You are out of your mind if you think she will help like this!" Kerry held onto Sheila's housing, but it did no good. A MOA was far stronger than a normal human and Kerry was dragged along behind the MOA as it walked. "Simon, don't!"

A door ahead of them blinked red as they approached. A wide band of warning lights illuminated swath on the floor that Simon stopped short of. Sheila quailed as she moved right into them and the door ahead of her flashed green. Kerry… did not let go.

"Kerry! Let go of her!" Simon said sharply. "You cannot go in there!"

"I am not leaving her alone!" Kerry shouted even as the door hissed open to show a short corridor and another door. An airlock? Sheila's coerced body dragged Kerry into the corridor and the woman let out a moan as the door behind her hissed shut. Suddenly Sheila had volition again. Sheila spun her sensor housing to look at it, but she was not surprised to see it locked. She couldn't sense anything behind the walls or doors. Dampening field shrouded her sensors. A decontamination beam washed over them. If this was a sterile lab, it might take several minutes to run its full cycle.

"Kerry?" Sheila asked slowly. "What is in the wards?"

"There are three and I have only been in the one with the kids." Kerry released Sheila and backed away. Her face was a study. "I am sorry. I didn't think he would do that."

"I did." Sheila sighed. "Power can corrupt even the best and love makes us all do strange things. Hell, Mom threatened to burn a good chunk of the system to ash for me and I _know_ she doesn't want to."

"She..." Kerry swallowed hard. "How will she react to this?"

"I don't know, Kerry." Sheila admitted. "Taking volition from me didn't actually hurt." She paused as Kerry shook her head violently. "Kerry..."

"It does." Kerry said savagely. "Organic or technological, it _does_. Don't try telling me otherwise. You are not a robot. Treating you like one is wrong."

"I didn't know any better but the ones who found me kept saying the same thing. They can be damn persistent, the Clergy can." Sheila admitted, only to pause as Kerry made a face.

"The who?" The human asked.

"Eh… long story." Sheila replied. "But you might like them if you ever meet. They know about grief and loss. So…" She scrutinized the airlock and then sighed deeply. "I still don't understand why you need me. I am just a nurse. Hell, he could have abducted any number of humans to tend the kids far more easily than snatching my mind."

"Well, you don't need to eat." Kerry mused. "Do you sleep?"

"Four hours of downtime a night." Sheila replied. "Mostly recharging my on board power systems." Kerry stared at her and Sheila laughed a little tightly. "Gave me lots of time to study. For all the good it did. No matter how much I know, I am not organic, so I cannot ever be a doctor."

"What?" Kerry gaped at the MOA and then shut her mouth with a click. " _Prejudice?_ Are they _insane?_ You are Oracle's daughter."

"Adopted." Sheila replied offhand as the decontamination beam cut off and the locking panel on the door ahead shifted from red lights to green. "I am not one to use family to get ahead anyway and I could serve as I was." She slumped a bit. "I was happy as I was."

"I am sorry, Sheila." Kerry said weakly. "For all of this."

"I cannot scan anything through the walls." Sheila looked at Kerry. "You have been in here?"

"I um… I woke up in one of the wards." Kerry admitted. "I wasn't very coherent. She um… I..."

"I understand." Sheila reassured her. "It was a shock to me too and I never _had_ a human body. I had no idea what she was doing or why it felt like that." Sheila broke off as a look of consternation appeared on Kerry's face followed by sudden rage.

"She raped you." Kerry said flatly.

"An argument could be made that she did the same to you." Sheila said in a suddenly strained voice.

"I gave consent." Kerry laughed little. "Not that I was in my right mind to do so, but I did and it was signed and everything."

"If you were not in your right mind, then whatever the hell she did to try and cover herself is not valid." Sheila snapped. "And you _know_ it."

"I was so screwed up, Sheila… I still am, but differently." Kerry shook her head. "Whatever happens next, I am ready for it. I was ready to die after losing my son."

" _I_ am not ready to die just yet, so if you don't mind, try to avoid self immolating too close?" Sheila said with a snide laugh. Kerry flushed, but them smiled at the MOA. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Kerry stepped close to Sheila and laid a hand on the MOA's housing. "You are a good person, Sheila. It is an honor to know you."

"You say that _now_..." Sheila quipped as the pair started for the door.

When the door opened, both were slammed by a solid wall of sound. Kerry went stiff and then collapsed to the floor. Sheila was rocked back, but recovered before she tripped over the fallen human. Sheila stared around wildly, bu the walls were bare, white painted and the only furniture was a MOA charging station that looked suspiciously like her own back in the dojo. A green light started blinking on it.

"I cannot leave her!" Sheila's words were lost in the cacophony.

Without her medical gear, she was useless to Kerry though. If the station was like hers, then it likely had access to gear she could use to figure this out and treat Kerry. If it wasn't? She was sacrificing herself to be disassembled. Standard MOAs were built in the fabricators aboard Corpus ships. Used or damaged ones were disassembled to for the parts to be reused. She didn't know if a Corpus fabricator would recognize her organic bits or _care._ If those were disassembled, she was dead. Period.

 _Nothing ventured, nothing gained._ Sheila thought grimly as she stepped forward. The charging station opened and she turned around to back into it as she always had. This time, though when it closed, she could not help a pang of terror. The sound cut out as soon as it did and she felt… things attaching to her housing. A voice sounded directly into her sensor clusters. Stalker.

"If you are hearing this, Medic Sheila, then we have succeeded in bringing you to this place." Stalker actually sounded worried. "Whatever I did to get you here was needed. There are twenty young lives for you to focus on. Any organic form that enters the area will be at the very least knocked unconscious by the sound that is emanating from the third ward. As security systems go, installing that one was a mistake. You may be able to help the female who is causing this. You may not. Your housing will last for some time, but not indefinitely. Even a warframe is not proof against such raw sound."

 _Kerry._ Sheila breathed even as the things attached to her housing activated and she was suddenly in a medical MOA again! A fully functional one with more gear than she ever seen on a regular MOA. Hell, she could probably run an entire multiphasic genetic scan sequence just with her on board scanners!

"You need to stop this. Stop her." Stalker said sadly. "I would if I could, but I cannot get to her. Sedate her and she will stop broadcasting. Then you can tend the kids."

 _For how long?_ Sheila demanded angrily. But there was no reply. The changing station clicked open and Sheila was assaulted by the sound again.

Kerry was still crumpled where she had fallen and Sheila dashed to the human's side. A quick scan showed the woman had suffered burst eardrums as well as inter-cranial damage from the raw volume. Sheila immediately encased the woman's head in a sound canceling field and started treatment. It was quick and the only external sign was a little bit of blood seeping from the woman's ear. Such was a minor concern all told. She was unconscious and would likely stay that way for a bit. Sheila did not envy Kerry the headache the human would have when she woke, but she _would_ wake.

This was starting to make sense now. A bit. Sheila's housing had been augmented with shielding that would protect her from the sound. She could find the source and shut it off where even Stalker would likely be incapacitated in minutes at best. She wondered idly if he had tried as she made Kerry as comfortable as she could and then started off into the wards. In moments, it was clear that whatever the place's primary purpose was, it wasn't medicine. Or at least, not medicine intended to _save_ lives.

Small rooms lined the corridor that was helpfully marked 'Wards' with an arrow. Each was occupied by a still human form. None of them showed life signs and all were restrained even with the force fields that took the place of doors. Prisoners. Some showed bandages. Others showed healed signs of surgery to Sheila's sensors. Still others showed pallor or other marks of sickness. Test subjects? _Human_ test subjects?

 _What the hell is this place?_ Sheila demanded silently. There was no way any words would be heard over the sound that… Sheila paused. The sound was repeating, It was getting clearer as she kept on towards the end of the hall. A set of doors shown on each wall as Sheila tried to comprehend a pattern in the noise, ahead but it still made no sense at all. It was certainly a pattern, but it wasn't any she had ever encountered. It wasn't like the Clergy music or the rachni music or anything else she had ever encountered.

Sheila paused at the doors. They were numbers but there were no other identifiers. One started flashing green, so that was likely where she had to go. She had to be under scrutiny at the moment, but like Stalker had said, no one could live in this except maybe an enhanced MOA. And only for a while. She could feel the sound vibrating through her, her own internal defense keeping the damage at bay for now and repairing what they could. Eventually, they would fail and she would die, but hopefully not before fixing this. If she could and then if she could trust Stalker not to kill her or enslave her forever. She scoffed at that thought. Only a _fool_ trusted him.

The door hissed open and Sheila stepped through into a room straight out of any of the Clergy's ancient collection of stories about mad scientists. Machinery both medical and incomprehensible surrounded the room. It was fairly large but it did not feel that way. The gray floor and ceiling did nothing to dispel the sense of despair that clenched Sheila's heart as soon as she saw what lay in the middle of the room. A glass tube dominated the room. It was huge and Sheila could not see any way to breach it. Which was likely a good thing.

The young human woman who hung within the fluid had tubes and wires into her unclad body. She looked to be about twenty standard years in age. The scans were clear, she was alive. Her face was covered with a clear mask but for a moment, Sheila could not make out her features. Then she could.

And what she _saw_ …

" _MOM!"_


	15. Chapter 15

**Cannot**

Sheila's first thought was to break the glass tube.

Then her intellect caught up with her emotions and she froze in mid-step towards the massive container. This wasn't her mom. Wasn't the genetic donor who had provided the X chromosome to her creation. Indeed, Sheila hadn't been carried to term in a human womb. She had been cloned from… Sheila fought back an all too human sigh. This had to be yet _another_ clone of Amelia Priosa. Didn't Stalker get tired of those? They seemed to cause nothing but trouble. There had been only one true Amelia Priosa and she was gone.

She scrutinized the tube and its occupant. She didn't know what most of the equipment in the ward was for, but the tubes and wires attached to the woman in the tank, she knew. Monitors, feeding tube, blood filters,… The mask had to provide oxygen or the fluid was oxygenated somehow, otherwise the woman would be dead as long as she had been in the fluid from the wrinkles on her skin. But… there was something off about the woman. Sheila couldn't put her finger on it. Not that she had fingers in this form, but whatever. Something about the woman was bothering her and she didn't have a clue what it was.

Sheila felt the sound hit her again and she snarled at herself. She had a job to do. She scrutinized the machinery before locating a bank of switches marked 'Off'. She moved to them and checked each one, but none were marked in any other way. She reached out with a small manipulator and hit the switches one at a time. She felt a sense of relief as the sound vanished as if it had never been. She turned back to the tube and the woman was staring at her eyes wide.

 _You turned off my music._ The woman's lips did not move and her voice was in Sheila's head. She sounded confused and sad. _Why did you turn off my music?_

 _It was hurting people._ Sheila instinctively replied the same way. The woman's face turned fearful and Sheila was moved to comfort her. _It is all right. You are going to be all right._

 _No!_ The other said shrilly. _I need the music! I need it. If I don't play the music, the bad man will come and take me. He will hurt me again! Make me hurt her again! I don't want to hurt her!_

 _Whoa, whoa._ Sheila said as calmly as she could. _Wait a second._ _My name is Sheila. What is yours?_

 _I am A-3._ The other said weakly. _You...You don' t work for the dark man?_

 _If I do, it is not by choice._ Sheila said with a growl. The other smiled a little at that, but then slumped in her fluid prison.

 _He made me._ The girl -she sounded so young in Sheila's mind- said weakly. _He said he owned me and that I had to do what he said. But she screamed and begged me to stop. I did and he was mad._

 _Wait._ Sheila paused. This didn't make any sense. _She? Who is 'she'?_

 _The other._ The girl replied and then heaved a sigh. _I am tired. I need to sleep._

 _What 'other'?_ But the girl's eyes were closed and her rhythms shifted to sleep patterns even as Sheila watched. Had someone sedated her remotely? Stalker?

Sheila cursed mentally and then turned to the door. She was not surprised when it opened for her. Another of the doors was glowing green. She ignored that one and focused on the door that was still locked. She stepped to it and jerked to a halt as it hissed open, even with a red locked panel!

That wasn't supposed to happen. Was it?

Sheila stepped forward to the door warily, but nothing happened. She looked into the room beyond and didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first. The room was small and well appointed for its size. Her eyes were drawn to a chair near one wall and the form that sat in it. Not a human.

"Well done. She sleeps, poor dear. She needs the rest after so long in that horror." The female Tenno said with a nod to Sheila. "She has been through anyone's definition of hell. Bastard really has it in for her."

She wore no warframe, but Sheila had been around enough Tenno to know the feel of one. She was also very familiar. Which was weird because Sheila had never met her before. Her face was unlike any that Sheila had ever seen, almost human, but not quite. She did have human features though and her face creased with a smile as she beckoned to Sheila.

"You are Sheila?" The unarmored Tenno asked kindly. "He said he was going to try and bring you to fix the mess he made." She made a face. "And this was a _hell_ of a mess." Sheila did not move. "I won't hurt you, girl."

"Are you one of his?" Sheila demanded. She was not expecting the other to _laugh_. She wasn't laughing at Sheila, but her chuckles held a tinge of darkness, of madness. "What?"

"Me? His?" The woman asked, still chuckling. "Only in his _dreams_. Which I want _nothing_ to do with. Bastard has a lot to answer for."

She waved at herself and Sheila started as she realized the woman wasn't sitting because she wanted to! She was strapped down to the chair!

"My name is Sheila." The MOA said slowly. "But my trust has been abused." The female Tenno bit her lip and nodded.

"Well, my name is Sorietta Simons Sorge." The woman replied with a smile as Sheila stared at her. "But you can call me 'Ess."

"'Ess'?" The word escaped Sheila before she could hold it back but the other just chuckled again.

"Would _you_ want that whole mouthful as a name?" Ess asked with a sly grin. Against her will, Sheila found herself warming to this Tenno. "My parents were crazy, but I was one of sixteen children. I think they ran out of names and just used a random name generator for me and my last two brothers."

"Are you a prisoner then?" Sheila asked, still not moving.

"He has been trying to convert me to his side since he woke me from cryo." Ess said with a grunt. "But I could tell the moment he did what he was. I may act crazy on occasion. He _is_ crazy." She snorted. "I know who he is and what he does. I have been keeping up as best I can with limited access. But he is not the only one who can hack systems. His data stores are wide open to me after so long in here. Limited though. He thinks he knows everything and he doesn't even have a clue what he doesn't know."

"Do you?" Sheila demanded.

"He doesn't know where you went, girl." Ess replied and Sheila felt her nonexistent guts freeze. "As far as he is concerned, you were programmed in the dojo, managed to get to a portal and shifted here via a convoluted route according to deep seated instructions that the doc implanted. He has no idea what actually happened."

"And what do _you_ think happened?" Sheila snapped, still not moving.

"Me?" Ess asked softly, her eyes far away. "I think the rachni music is some of the most beautiful sound I have heard in my life." Sheila stared at her and Ess smiled. "We don't have a lot of time, Sheila. You need to make a choice now. I can send you back there. Jennifer and the others will protect you. You shifted into an existing body there. So did the doc. They broke the programming, the link that bound you to together. You are free. For now. When he realizes you are free, he will strengthen the controls he just put in and to hell with Oracle Janet's vengeance. She won't do it and he knows it. She won't kill innocents to avenge you." She shrugged.

"Good." Sheila said weakly. "I don't want innocent people to die for me."

"Yeah, karma is a bitch, ain't it?" Ess asked rhetorically. "Love makes us do strange things, but he wouldn't know that now if it bit him." Sheila jerked and Ess laughed. "Yeah, he thinks he knows love, but the Sentient burned it out of him. If he ever gets hold of Mishka or Iriana again, he will kill them quickly."

"Over my dead body." Sheila snapped and stepped fully into the room. "What does he want me for then? To tend the kids?"

"You saw this facility, Sheila." At Sheila's incredulous noise, Ess waved a hand at one wall that came alive with monitors. "He likes letting me watch. He thinks it will break my resolve."

"Then he is an idiot." Sheila retorted.

"Every being has limits, Sheila." Ess replied evenly. "Even Tenno. I am reaching mine. He hasn't been rough, but he has been implacable." She nodded to her chair and Sheila could see tubes running into her lower body. Some she could identify, others she could not. "Drugs and other things meant to keep me distracted. Keep me from being able to fight. It works. Mostly. But I can talk and poor A-3..."

"She said she hurt you." Sheila said weakly.

"Yeah, she did." Ess sighed deeply. "It wasn't her fault. He made her do it. Without my warframe, I am hideously vulnerable to certain things. You at least are safe to be around." Sheila made a noise of confusion and Ess sighed again. "Look, I know you need an explanation. Gods above and below know you _deserve_ one. But there is no time. Do you want to go? You will be safe in that other world, with Jennifer, C-Flat Amethyst and the others. They can help you, protect you."

"And I won't be able to come back, will I?" Sheila asked as movement showed on the monitors. Stalker with three of his acolytes had just entered the decontamination chamber.

"No, but you will be _safe!_ " Ess pleaded. "Here, you will never be. They will use you to tend the kids. You will be his body and soul. Sheila, please!"

She wasn't acting like a stranger. No. She was acting like… Like _Oracle_ might.

"How old are you, Ess? Or should I call you 'Cassandra'?" Sheila asked as she stepped back to the door. Ess stared at her and Sheila chuckled. "Did the Greeks profit from Troy?"

Ess stared at Sheila and then she started to laugh.

"In the end? No they didn't. Damn, you _are_ good. I am a lot older than I look, Sheila." Ess said with a soft smile. "I cannot answer your question, but your mother loves you very much."

"Is your warframe here?" Sheila asked as she took another step back.

"I don't know." Ess said quickly. "Sheila! Remember your mother! Remember her love for you. Remember-"

The door hissed shut and the other door, the one blinking green hissed open. Sheila was not surprised at all to see the clone of Amelia Priosa standing there. Her face was set in a grim line.

"Took you long enough." The clone snapped. "Well? Get in here!"

"I do not answer to you." Sheila did not move.

"For that, I will make you hurt." The clone raised something, but a loud voice had everything stopping.

"Enough, doctor!" Stalker strode into view and tore whatever was in her hand from it. He looked at the MOA and then at the door she stood in front of. "Ah Sheila..." Regret sang in his tone. "I would have let you go but you have seen too much for that now."

"Sure you would have." Sheila put just the right hint of scorn into her tone as two of the Acolytes move to flank her. "Honor is all well and good as long as you can use it against other people."

"I would have kept my word, but now I cannot. We will not hurt you no matter what the doc may wish." Stalker said with a groan.

"Yeah." Sheila replied without a hint of emotion. "What good are hurt slaves?"

"None."

Stalker touched the top of the MOA's housing and Sheila was catapulted into darkness.

When Sheila could see again, she was in a large room filled with tubes in which a series of young… No! No these were _not_ human children! Sheila could feel the same energy from them that she had felt from Ess. From the other Tenno who she had dealt with on a daily basis. They looked so human asleep in their stasis tubes. But they were not. Indeed, red and black bio armor had started forming around their almost fully grown bodies.

"And now you know." Stalker spoke up form nearby. Sheila spun to see him standing at the door. The doc was held in the grip of two of his acolytes. "I need more Acolytes. Growing them to adulthood takes too long. Why bother growing them when I can make them out of the raw materials already available?"

"You… You..." Words failed Sheila. "And the colony?"

"Their memories have been edited." Stalker shrugged. "I will so it a bit more severely now. They won't remember you. Kerry didn't mind carrying Anisette. I think she won't mind if I give her another child to love."

"You motherfucking piece of shit!" Sheila threw herself at Stalker, even knowing it was hopeless. He was out the door before she was halfway there and it slammed in her face. It locked of course.

"They are good kids." Stalker's voice came over an intercom. "They will make excellent Acolytes."

"I will find a way to-" Sheila screamed as agony tore through her, her limbs twitching as she fell over to land with a crash.

"You will learn your place, eventually." Stalker replied evenly. "You are in there to take care of any medical emergencies. Until then? You will learn your place. Ten minutes in sensory deprivation I think. Keep resisting and it will gel worse." The intercom clicked off.

"No!" Sheila screamed as her sensors started to shut down. She was quickly left in complete darkness. She screamed again and she heard no sound. She was alone. Utterly alone She had never been alone in her entire life. The techs she had first seen, the Clergy, the Tenno… She had never been alone and now she was…

 _You are not alone!_ A familiar voice sounded in her mind and suddenly, Sheila could see again. She stared at a trio of forms in armor that was unfamiliar, but at the same time… oddly familiar. All were armed and ready for a fight. An N and a 7 were on each form's upper left chest.

"J… J...Jane?" Sheila managed.

"She couldn't come in the flesh." A mountain of a man said as he took up station nearby, an oddly shaped weapon in his hand sprouting a shield from both sides as he aimed at the door. "Pissed Lola off to no end, let me tell you."

The other two did not speak. One was a woman who carried a pistol, but had a sword holstered at her back. The other was a man who held an oddly shaped rifle professionally.

"Easy, Sheila." A woman in blue appeared nearby in a flash of white light. Jennifer! In armor and armed! She knelt beside the fallen MOA and her hand and wrist started glowing. Her omni-tool. "What the hell is this?"

"Jennifer?" Sheila begged. "Am I dreaming this?"

"No." Jennifer smiled. "Not as good at field ops as I was, but I wasn't _about_ to leave you here." She smirked at the others. "Or let the Alliance have all the fun."

"You have an _odd_ definition of fun, Jennifer." Sheila complained. That earned three chuckles and a smile form Jennifer.

"Guilty as charged, Sheila." Jennifer sighed as she checked her readouts. "I cannot free you quickly, Sheila. I should be able to, but this whole robot thing is a mess."

"How do you know it is me?" Sheila asked, still reeling from this.

"Duh?" The sound of rachni music came to Sheila's mind and Sheila relaxed.

"Oh. Yeah. Duh." Sheila made a soft noise of dismay. "These kids… I… We cannot leave them."

"These are not kids." The man who wasn't aiming at the door had been scanning while Sheila had been distracted by Jennifer working. "Not anymore. Not sure _what_ they are, but they are not human now. But what is…?"

He backed away as a wall cabinet unfolded open nearby and a humanoid form appeared in it. All of the others aimed, but Sheila relaxed as she saw the empty warframe. She didn't know the warframe type, but it had to be Ess'. How many _other_ Tenno could be prisoner in here?

"Not a threat." Sheila reassured the others. "Empty. The occupant is a prisoner nearby."

"This just gets better and better." The largest human said with a growl. "Jennifer? You are lead. Orders?"

"We came for Sheila." Jennifer was still working feverishly." I can deactivate the controls on you, Sheila, but that _will_ sound alarms. We need to leave quickly after that."

"We cannot leave Ess!" Sheila said with a growl. "She and A-3 are victims of the madness here! I don't think we can save A-3, but Ess? We can!"

"You are going to insist, aren't you?" Jennifer groaned.

"Out the door. Door on the right. She is probably expecting us." Sheila said quietly. All eyes landed on her for a moment and she sighed. "I am betting she is an Oracle. A precognitive."

"And is this a _good_ thing?" Jennifer demanded. "If she knows we are coming, then we are screwed if we do not leave now!"

"She has no love for Stalker or his minions any more than _we_ do." Sheila was on the verge of begging. "We cannot leave her here!"

"We don't-"

Whatever else was going to be said would be forever unknown as the door hissed open at that particular moment and one of Stalkers Acolytes was framed in it. Then he was thrown back as the mountain of armored human who had been aiming that way opened fire.


	16. Chapter 16

**Means**

Sheila couldn't do anything as gunfire tore from all three of the armored humans.

Jennifer was crouched protectively over her form even as all three of the others moved to take advantage of what little cover was available in the room. The one with the machine gun was beside the door, still firing at whatever he could see.

"I feel for whoever else is stuck in this evil place, Sheila..." Jennifer was working as fast as she could, even bent over Sheila as she was. "...but there is no cover out there. If we leave this room, we get turned into hamburger. We have to go _now!_ "

"I can't just leave her, Jennifer!" Sheila begged.

"That is not your call." Jennifer said flatly. "You are incapacitated. Hate me if you wish, but we have to go." Sheila jerked, she could move! "There. Let's-"

Many thing happened at once. Jennifer shifted to let Sheila rise. Sheila was looking at her, so she was the only one who saw an evil orange cloud form at the other end of the room from the door and one of Stalker's Acolytes appear out of it. The huge weapon in his hands turned so that it aimed at Jennifer. Sheila moved, bowling Jennifer over even as the weapon fired and a large spear of energy tore from it.

The spear hit Sheila and she was immediately elsewhere.

"Dumb kid." Ess sounded upset as Sheila materialized in a virtual world. She was in human form and she _hurt_. The walls, ceiling and floor were bare, but Ess was standing free, her face thunderous as she knelt down beside Sheila. "Damn it, girl. You were _free_! Why did you do that?"

"She didn't see the threat." Sheila said softly. "I had to help her. She helped me."

"She was in armor, Sheila." Ess sounded even more upset now. "It wouldn't have been fun for her, but I bet that armor could even take an Opticor hit or two. They came prepared to fight for you."

"Am I dead?" Sheila wasn't sure about this at all. Ess shook her head. "Then… what?"

"There is so much I cannot tell you, Sheila." Ess said sadly as she gathered the girl up in her arms. "Too many rules that cannot be broken. But Stalker broke one already. Hence why Jennifer and her allies could come after you." Tears were falling as she she shook her head. "I can't. I can't do this!" She wasn't talking to Sheila! She was staring off into the distance now, eyes far away. "What price must others continue bear for my errors? I am guilty, I know it. But she deserves better! Take me if you must! But help me to help her!"

"You know the cost of such." Sheila made a small noise of fear as _Grandmaster Nikis_ appeared in the virtual world. The ancient Nekros gunfighter had always terrified Sheila even though he had never been anything but polite to her. "We didn't know where you went."

"It was too much, Nikis." Ess was sad as she rose, still holding Sheila's form close. "I failed. I fell. I made such a mess and I couldn't face you all again."

"It ain't your fault that you had such a horrible curse, Ess." Nikis actually sounded _kind_. "You ain't dead yet, Ess. I got no call to interfere."

"Sheila is dying, Nikis. She took a hit from an Opticor in the real world." Ess held Sheila out to him and Sheila quailed as the gunfighter looked at her. "Please?" She begged.

"As bad as that is, Ess..." Nikis sounded resigned now. "Sheila is human. It ain't our place to interfere. She made her choice, didn't she? Janet has been driving herself crazy trying to see what happened to her. She can't."

"I know." Ess said quietly. "Fine. I ask for an audience." Was it Sheila's imagination that Nikis stiffened?

"Ess..." Nikis warned. "You _know_ better. She _will_ use you. Right, wrong or indifferent, she will!"

"This girl just threw away her future for me, Nikis!" Ess snapped, cradling Sheila close. "I don't know her except in my visions, but I won't let her die without trying everything I _can_."

"Oh." Nikis stared from Ess to the shivering girl in Ess' arms and then let out a series of foul words. Finally he grunted. "Dumb kid."

"Yeah, I said that too." Ess squeezed Sheila tight enough to hurt. "Nikis? Please?"

"We need to know where you been." Nikis replied. "Sun is gonna flip as soon as he sees you again. You know what he will want."

"Sun can kiss my _butt_." Ess snapped right back. Sheila jerked in Ess' arms. Who the hell could -or would!- talk about the grand master of Tenno interrogators that way? "To save this girl, I might -might!- work for the Empress. Once. I won't work for him and his. Never again."

"It wasn't his fault either, Ess." Nikis said soberly. "You know that."

"What I know is that the probabilities I gave him allowed him to kill a whole lot of people." Ess was beyond upset now. "Not all of them were guilty, you _know_ that."

"I do." Nikis admitted. The Nekros' helmet looked away from the pair of females. "For him, the end almost always justifies the means. No one expected you to _stay away_ , Ess." He chided her a little.

"I couldn't, Nikis." Ess said sadly. "I made a mess. I would have made a worse one."

"Yeah."

"You are an Oracle." Sheila finally found her tongue.

"Yeah." Ess hugged Sheila again. "I was never very good at lying to people. I am an Oracle, Sheila. Not a 'normal' one… Stop that!" She barked as Nikis started laughing at her. "And watch your mouth, you old fart."

"Ain't _nothing_ normal 'bout you, Ess." Nikis was still chuckling as Ess made a rude gesture at him with one hand. But then he stiffened as Ess drew herself up to her full height.

"Nikis, Sheila's energy is failing." Ess said in an oddly formal tone. "I will offer whatever I must, do whatever I must. But this girl could have escaped. Instead she demanded that the force who came to save her rescue _me_ as well _._ " Nikis jerked a little at the Ess' words. "Is the debt valid, Grandmaster?"

Nikis heaved a long, deep sigh and then nodded. "It is. Ess..." He pleaded.

"Stalker has me, Nikis." Ess said quietly and the ancient Nekros jerked as if struck. "I accepted my fate. I wouldn't let him use my curse against our kin. I knew I would die in his care and I accepted that. Then this one came along and she was a bright ray of light to piece my gloom. For the first time in a long, long time, I had hope. And now, she is _dying_. Nikis, _please_?"

The Guardian of the Dead nodded once and Sheila managed to still her tongue as the room changed. It was hard though. She knew virtual worlds were malleable, but _this…_

The walls, ceiling and floor changed to golden hues. The décor was Orokin in nature, not that Sheila had ever seen such in person. She had seen through the eyes and memories of Clergy agents sent into derelict towers so she recognized some of the things. But her attention was drawn to the dais that rose up out of nothingness at the far end of the room. To the four Tenno in warframes that stood around it's base, weapons ready. To the chair… No the throne that appeared on it and the woman in the golden gown who appeared sitting in said throne. Her head bore a crown that started to glow. It took no imagination for Sheila to know that this was Empress Eliza, the leader of the feeble remnants of the Orokin civilization.

"You asked an audience, Oracle Sorge." The woman said quietly. "We have granted it."

"Empress." To Sheila's amazement, Ess bowed her head. She didn't think Tenno bowed to anyone. "I crave a boon."

"So Nikis said. Janet is on her way. She is…" The Empress made a small grimace. "...a bit upset."

"I bet." Ess blew out a deep breath and then nodded. "This one was hurt when she did not need to be. She was delaying her rescue to try and rescue _me_." She gave Sheila another gentle squeeze. "She is a good kid, but impulsive. When she sees people hurting, she has to act."

"A common trait in healers." The Empress said with a nod. "And?"

"And in the fight, she was struck by a high energy laser beam." Ess said slowly. "It pierced her life support box." Eliza's eyes narrowed, but Ess continued. "It was not a direct hit, but the energy trauma was enough to throw her into an instant coma. Her vital energy is decaying, Empress. She doesn't have a lot of time. Hence why I made a virtual world with the time setting at max."

"So you could do whatever and it takes milliseconds in the real world." Eliza nodded understanding. "But we do not understand. What is it you wish of us?" The royal 'we' was clear.

"The last time I acted without thinking, over a thousand humans died by Tenno hands." Ess said flatly. "We are weapons. We are Tenno. Tenno serve, we do not rule. But that was wrong."

"I know not the details. I had no time to peruse records before coming here." Eliza said slowly. "What happened?"

"I was lost in my curse." Ess said slowly. "The only way I had to escape it was my music. When a Tenno came to me and did not ask me for a vision or a future, I should have been wary. Instead, when he simply asked me to make music for him, I was overjoyed and I did as he wished. He gave me a place, a home and I loved it. I didn't know..." She slumped a little. "I had no idea I was acting out the future in my music when it was denied voice."

"What?" Eliza paled slightly.

"As I am now, I am dulled enough that I can function." Ess said quietly. "Normally, I am so jazzed with energy that separating my rants and my visions from each other takes a great deal of effort. But he had no trouble interpreting. It is what he does, take disparate sources and merge the information into a complete whole. I had no idea what he did with it. Not until later."

That was not a good time for two more people to appear. Oracle Janet stared at Sheila and sobbed. But it was the white Loki Prime who stood as if struck dumb. Ess' face was a terrible thing.

"I beg your pardon, Empress." Ess spoke before anyone else could. "But some things need to be said." She handed Sheila to Janet who took her, face stricken. "She is alive. I will do my best to keep her that way, Sister." That was an oath and Janet nodded even as Sheila protested softly that she could stand up. Both Oracles ignored her as Ess rounded on Sun.

"Sorietta..." The interrogator started, only to be cut off as Ess shook her head.

"I am only going to say this _once_. My name is Ess." Ess might have been cut out of living stone. "You abused my trust, You abused my curse. You used what I showed you to kill over a thousand people. _I do not know you_."

At that, both Nikis and Sun recoiled as if struck. Ess turned her back on the interrogator and nodded to the Empress.

"My name is Ess, Empress." The angry female Tenno said quietly. "I have no mate."

"Tenno Ess..." Eliza had paled as well at the irate Tenno's declaration. "You cannot do that."

"I just did." Ess replied, her tone icy. "One reason I never resisted Stalker when he found me..." At _that_ , Sun actually took a step back! "...was that I could knew that what he wanted was wrong! _He_ never _lied_ about what he wanted. He wanted me to serve him. I refused and breaking me to his will would have ruined the visions, so he tried a longer approach. It would have killed me eventually and I would have welcomed oblivion. I was so young and stupid. I actually thought the interrogator capable of love. My bad."

"Tenno Ess, the mate bonds can only be broken with death." Eliza tried again.

"I know." Ess agreed. "Which is why, in the presence of all these witnesses, I am asking the Empress of Orokin to bless the Grandmaster of the Dead to take my vital energy and use it to heal Sheila's mortal wound."

"NO!" Sheila's impassioned scream cut through the silence that enveloped the room like a knife. Everyone seemed to be stunned by the angry female Oracle's declaration. Sheila squirmed from Janet's arms, landed on her feet and ran to Ess, crying. She hugged Ess tight and the Tenno unbent a little to run a hand through Sheila's hair. "Not for me. Not for me!"

"It is not just for you, Sheila." Ess said quietly. "I am too powerful. I am not in Janet's league power wise, but it was too much for my sanity even when I was finished training and assumed my warframe. Even with all of my skill and discipline, I couldn't handle it and spent a great deal of time in a sanitarium for our kind. I managed to get my bearings eventually and as soon as I left, I ran into a certain liar who took me in, took my curse and used it as he uses every one of his weapons. Mercilessly."

"There has to be another way!" Sheila pleaded. "I mean, you are functional now!"

"Not really." Ess shook her head. "Stalker's drugs and toxins are keeping my power in check for now, but they won't last. They never do." She looked away from Sheila and the girl made a noise of consternation. "Yes, Sheila. I stayed there because I knew he would kill me eventually."

"NO!" Sheila screamed again, hugging Ess tight enough that the Tenno gave a grunt..

"Sheila, it was and is for the best." Ess said gently. "You wondered if my name was Cassandra? She was driven mad by her visions. So was I. The only difference? She used dance. I used music." She shrugged. "Either way, I am dead, Sheila. At least this way, I get to help you _and_ thumb my nose at my ex."

"You ask us to condone your suicide." Eliza said slowly. Ess nodded. "Tenno Ess, we cannot do that. We do not command Tenno."

"You know better." Ess agreed. "The Tenno known as Sun cannot be trusted. Nikis is biased. There is no Council of Tenno I would trust in this age and Janet is hardly impartial in this due to Sheila. You are the only one who can _possibly_ be impartial."

"You are asking us to let you die." Eliza was being very careful with her words.

"I am asking that you make sure my _ex_ -mate..." Ess emphasized the 'ex' heavily. "Not abuse me further."

"It wasn't abuse." Sun's voice was quiet, reflective.

"Shut up." Ess said flatly. "You have no claim on me anymore. You have nothing I want to hear, liar."

"It wasn't lies." Sun's words were almost inaudible. "I wasn't the one who lied."

"Yeah. I told you I needed time." Ess scoffed. "I needed time to find a way to get free of you and your coils, Mr Spider!" Eliza shook her head again. "Empress?"

"What is between you and him is not my business, Tenno Ess." Eliza said quietly. "Sheila is a good kid by all accounts, but is she worth your life?"

"She is worth a _hundred_ of me." Ess hugged Sheila again. "A thousand. Maybe, just maybe…. I can make up for what I let Sun do. How I told him to get through their defenses." Eliza looked from Ess to the white Loki Prime and back. "He never told anyone, did he? How he got past the enemy defenses on Titan to destroy the power reactor. To destroy the entire habitat, terrorists, slaves, hostages and all. Men, women, children, pets. All of them gone in an instant."

"What?" Eliza stammered and then recovered. "I know of what you speak. The Roman Scientologist Separatist base. They had a super weapon. What was done on Titan was a horror, but it had to be done."

"Did it?" Ess spun to glare at Sun. "Did it really?" Janet bowed her head. "Answer me, you piece of crap. Did it really?"

"The weapon was primed." Sun replied evenly. "It had to be done or the nova bomb would have killed everything in the system." Everything stopped as Ess laughed. Madness sang in her mirth.

"Lie to anyone else you wish, but do not lie to me, Interrogator and expect me to remain silent." Ess said with glee. "You have no hold on me anymore. You cannot hurt me. You cannot confine me. You cannot even _frighten_ me. I am beyond your power now."

"Ess, no..." Was Sun _pleading_?

"THE WEAPON WAS A LIE!" Ess screamed. "It didn't _exist!_ It was a _bluff_! You killed one thousand, four hundred and _sixteen_ people because it was _expedient_! You didn't _have_ to! You _wanted_ to!" Nikis jerked, staring from Sun to Ess and then the looked at Janet whose head hung lower. She nodded slightly.

"It wasn't like that, Ess." Sun said quietly. "They were a threat."

"Yeah." Ess agreed. "Their philosophy might have managed to curb my madness. They had to go. My madness let you have glimpses into the future and you couldn't possibly allow that to be jeopardized."

"You?" Nikis asked slowly. Ess nodded." You actually were _contemplating_..."

"Nikis, I would have done almost _anything_ to keep my mind intact. To keep my music going." Ess all but growled. "Yes, I looked at their philosophy. Sun brought it to me to 'study'. Actually, to get me focused on them so he could 'deal' with them. Most of it was pseudo religion dressed up in scientific mumbo jumbo, but not _all_ of it." She shook her head. "It wasn't sane, but then again, neither was I."

"He killed over a thousand people to keep me on his leash."


	17. Chapter 17

**Mad**

Sheila held her breath after Ess' outburst.

For a long, long moment, there was utter silence. No one seemed to want to speak. Finally Sun broke the silence.

"That is not true." Sun's voice was calm and quiet as usual. "The weapon was real and they were threatening to use it. Such a threat had to be taken seriously."

" _Which_ of us is the Oracle?" Ess demanded, her tone etched with acid. "I saw the part they couldn't get to work right. The catalyzer wasn't fusing as they wished. It wasn't going to work." She shook her head. "And even if you have known that? You still would have done it just to keep me from being free at all."

"Anything I say now will not make any difference." Sun replied. "It is over and done. The threat, real or implied, is past. You didn't have to leave. You don't have to leave."

"Yeah. Come back to my nice, sweet gilded _cage_." Ess' voice fairly oozed fake sympathy. "Be a happy slave again. I was trained as a Warrior, not a lap dog! I will never serve you again." No one seemed to know what to say to that.

"Tenno Ess..." Eliza finally broke the silence. "Your past is past and nothing we do now can change it. We have to go on. But transferring your energy to Sheila won't save her."

"It will if a Guardian of the Dead does it." Ess visibly forced herself to calm down. "I asked, when I fled from my ex-mate the last time. The Guardian I spoke to refused to take it."

"Rightly so." Nikis obviously didn't wan to be involved in this conversation, but he had his obligations as a Guardian of the Dead. "Ess, ya ain't thinking right."

"You think I don't know that?" Ess asked, her tone suddenly sad. "Nikis, this is the clearest headed I have been in a long, long time and Sheila is the reason." She hugged Sheila gently. "She didn't demand anything from me. She didn't want me for my power. She just wanted to help. _Me._ Do you have _any_ idea how refreshing that was?"

"Yeah." For once, there was no insouciance or banter in the Nekros tone. "I do. I played the inscrutable guru and now play the asshole gunfighter for a _reason_."

"To keep most of the morons away and have perfect justification for handling those who persist in being stupid." Ess agreed. "Nikis, I know I am not sane. I never will be." Sheila made a soft, sad noise and Ess shook her head. "Sheila, I am not."

"I don't care!" Sheila buried her face in Ess' side, trying hard not to cry. "I know I am just a kid. I know I am broken emotionally from what was done to me. I know all of this. But you do not deserve to die as a guinea pig for Stalker's amusement."

"Oh, I irritated him far too much for him to be amused." Ess chuckled darkly. "He knew he had a prize as soon as he opened the pod. But he had no idea how to hold me. I have cost him quite a bit."

"Good." Nikis shook his head."Ess, I gotta refuse this. I cannot simply take someone's energy on their say so."

"I know." Ess' tone was calm, but there was something... Sheila suddenly held the Tenno tight. Ess looked down at the girl's head and smiled a bit sadly.

"Stop." Sun said quickly as Ess started to glow. "Don't do this."

"You have no control over me now." Ess replied, her tone flat. "I didn't understand for so long why it all made sense when I was in your care. I never realized that the _soap_ of all things held the drugs. I did love to bathe." She shook her head. "Sneaky is as sneaky does, Mr Spymaster. But don't worry. I am never going to trust you again."

"You needed the calm." Sun wasn't pleading. Not quite. "Without the calm, you were falling apart again. You did as soon as you left. I was following."

"Why do you think I ran?" Ess demanded angrily. "Every time I slowed down, you were right there. I couldn't catch my breath."

"Every time you slowed down, you started to play. Every time, there was a near riot when you stopped playing." Sun replied. "Crowds gathered everywhere you played, just to hear you. No one knew your name, but all I had to do was follow the music and the chaos that resulted when you stopped."

"I made sure that the crowds were peaceful when I stopped." Ess retorted. "I never killed anyone." She looked away. "Not until the end."

"That wasn't your fault." Sun and Nikis both spoke at the same time.

"Stop." Janet spoke for the first time. "Both of you. Stop." Everyone looked at her and she was shaking her head. "Ess… No. Please, Sister. We can help you."

"Become like you? Live like you? Then what happens to Sheila?" Ess held Sheila gently at arm's length and looked her up and down. "I can save her."

"So can we." A new voice sounded and everyone stared as two very different forms appeared in the virtual world. One was human, clad in unfamiliar armor. The other wasn't even remotely human looking. Both were composed of green energy. Sheila recognized both.

"Jane!" Sheila cried happily. "C-Flat Amethyst? But… um..." She paused as everyone else in the virtual world had tensed. Jane had an unfamiliar rifle in her hands and the rachni stood ready, her appendages coiled as if to strike. "No, please don't fight. There is no need."

"Jennifer is going to go nuts." Jane said flatly. "She cares for you a great deal, girl. You throwing your life away for her will hurt her very badly. We sensed something off, but we never imagined _this_." She nodded to encompass the room. "You okay, girl?"

"Somewhat." Sheila shrugged. "You broke the link to the clone. Thank you."

"The Catalyst lied about its methods." Jane made a face. "It is going _right_ back into its electronic oblivion. And good _riddance_."

 _Sheila, are you well?_ The rachni's mind impinged on her own. _You feel sad and weak, but you still live._

"I am hurt. But mainly I am sad because Ess wants to throw her life away for mine." Sheila replied and then paused. "Can everyone hear you?"

 _Of course_ _._ The rachni projected amusement now. _We saw no need to be rude._

"You are the coolest alien I have ever encountered." Sheila nearly gushed and then her face burned with a shame. "Um..."

All of the Tenno in the room had tensed. Ess slowly relaxed as Sheila looked at her. Janet was shaking her head slowly. Eliza looked somewhere between amused and horrified.

"We came for Sheila." Jane said slowly and carefully lowered her rifle. Then she raised it up in an odd gesture and Sheila's eyes went huge as it snapped to her back and the armored human lowered empty hands, spread wide to show no ill will. "Kid has been hurt enough."

"That she has." Eliza spoke and everyone relaxed a little. "We are here because Sheila was hurt and Tenno Ess here wishes to aid her by giving up her own life."

"This is a virtual world with time sped up." Jane sounded matter of fact. "Jennifer hasn't even managed to finish crying out Sheila's name. Girl hasn't hit the floor yet. When she _does_ , Jennifer is gonna flip right out. She may not be in Anya's class, but no one wants her angry. No one likes her when she is angry. She isn't a biotic and it _doesn't matter_."

Sheila stared at Jane and then at the rachni. Her mind was whirling. Jennifer had been so kind, so gentle. Why? It didn't make any sense. Did it?

"The body I was in..." Sheila said slowly. "It wasn't my own. She knows it, doesn't she?"

"Yeah." Jane said quietly. "The body belonged to one of Jennifer's students. A good one. She and her mom vanished on the way back after mid term vacation. The ship was taken by pirates and recovered by the Alliance, but the student and her mom were gone. No one knew anything about them until you showed up in their airlock, bleeding. Genetically, the body was hers, but it had been altered. Her mom likewise."

"The clone." Sheila gasped. Jane nodded.

"We don't know exactly what happened." Jane sighed deeply. "We may never know how much of what was done to you was physical and who much was mental. She is not easy to interrogate."

"She is here too." Sheila had to suppress a shiver as Jane's face darkened. "How many of her are there?" She demanded angrily.

"Evil has many faces, Sheila." Jane's face was a mask now.

"Three." Ess was eyeing the rachni oddly who eyes her right back. "There were three copies. He only had enough genetic material to make three. Now there is one here and poor A-3." She gave herself a shake. "Your music is beautiful." She breathed.

 _Thank you._ The rachni replied in her non-verbal way. _Yours is different. Oddly discordant, but also soothing in its own way. You are hurt?_

"I… yes." Ess charged whatever she was going to say and nodded to the rachni. "Yes, I hurt. I cannot control myself. It is too deep for…. me…" She gasped as _something_ flowed from the rachni and her face lit up. "Oh my _god!_ "

 _We know what it is to be discordant._ The rachni sounded so kind, gentle and sad. _We understand the need to sing. To_ **be** _the music. It is what we are. Who we are. Why we exist._

"I… Yes, but..." Ess swallowed hard and shook herself harder. "Sheila needs help now. I am offering. She wanted to help me and it cost her."

"The balance between our realities must be maintained." Eliza interjected. "Sheila has been bounced back and forth. That has to stop before one of the wardens of that balance takes notice. They have no sense of humor." Jane nodded.

"I talked with one. He said you used give him chocolates." Eliza jerked at Jane's words and Jane smiled. Said smile faltered. "He agreed that we could send a team to recover her, because her body came here too."

"It _what?_ " More than one voice uttered that query.

"I don't understand what happened." Jane made a face. "I was trying to break the link between Sheila and the clone. Her mind vanished out of the environment I had created to try to achieve that. At the same time, her body vanished out of the secure medical ward it was in. It wasn't taken. It _vanished_. There one moment, gone the next." She actually shivered. " _Then_ I got roared at by one of your wardens. _That_ was one for the record books." She grimaced in memory.

" _Not_ something you forget any time soon." Eliza joked weakly.

"No." Jane agreed just as weakly.

"So… I have to stay here." Sheila started, only to pause as Jane shook her head. "What?"

"Sheila, the wardens apparently have ironclad rules about who and _what_ can cross the boundaries between worlds." Jane spoke carefully and Eliza nodded. "But you did not break that rule. Someone broke it _using_ you. You are a victim, not a perpetrator. Your body has to come back, but there is no mind in it. He didn't actually _say_ … But I think you have a choice to go or stay."

"I… what?" Sheila said weakly. Ess held her gently.

"You don't like being a MOA, Sheila." Janet said sadly. "It was all you knew, but you never liked being different."

"But I..." Sheila snarled at herself. "This is all moot. I took a hit from a _laser cannon_. I am dying."

"Join the club. _I_ threw myself into a huge beam of energy and _dissolved_." Jane smiled at Sheila's expression. "And I am still here." She paused. "Well, sort of here. Jennifer won't give up on you if there is any chance at all. Even if there isn't. Girl has no quit in her."

"But..." Sheila tried again. "Even if she can save me, we are trapped in Stalker's colony." She paused as Ess hugged her and released her, taking hold of her hand. "Ess?"

"Can she save Sheila?" Ess asked Jane who shrugged. "Janet is blind to those closest to her. I cannot see right now as fuddled as I am, but I can hear and the music is soothing." Tears started falling. "Thank you." She said to the rachni who made a soft noise. "So, we have two connected problems. One, Sheila. Two, the clone."

"The clone apparently pulled Sheila across the boundary this last time." Jane was in full soldier mode now, with a clear objective in front of her. "The warden _was_ not amused."

"Angry dragon not good." Eliza gulped.

" _Dragon?_ " The chorus came from many throats, but Eliza ignored them to focus on Ess.

"Tenno Ess, as Empress, I deny your request." Eliza said formally. She turned to Sun and her face was inscrutable. "The rest? We shall talk." She vanished along with her throne and guards. Sun bowed to Ess and vanished as well.

"Never seen him so rattled." Nikis said mildly. "Not a bad thing, all things considered."

"You are a _bad_ man, Nikis." Ess quipped and Nikis laughed. "I… I don't want to ask for help, Nikis."

"Ess, ya are family." Nikis' tone was gentle now. "Ya is sick. Not bad, or evil, or wrong. _Sick_. There is a difference."

"That last time, Nikis… I..." Ess was crying and Sheila hugged her again.

"He was chasing ya." Nikis growled something vile under his breath that Sheila was glad she couldn't hear. "The riot that happened when ya stopped suddenly and vanished was bad. Yeah, people died. Riots are considered bad for a reason. Especially on a habitat as small as that one."

"I didn't… Nikis, I swear I didn't mean that to happen!" Ess pleaded.

"I know, Ess." Nikis shook his head. "Thing is, ya may have caused it, but what the people did after wasn't on ya. Let it go, Ess." A sound came from the rachni and Nikis eyed the alien. "You agree?"

 _From her mental pain, she had no idea what would happen._ C-Flat Amethyst said sadly. _How many died?_

"Thirty four." Ess said in a monotone. "Twelve kids. I… I didn't mean to."

 _You may have contributed to the start of the riot, but you did not inflict their deaths, Tenno Ess._ The rachni's tone was gentle, but stern at the same time. _Let go of this pain. Let your music flow freely again._

"I can't." Ess pleaded. "I can't let it flow free. If I do, I will hurt people again."

 _Have you tried a sub-harmonic melody with an alternating harmony?_ The rachni asked. _The percussion should be simple to provide a beat in that case, not to emphasize._

"What?" Ess stared at the rachni, her eyes going far away. "But… wouldn't that run into a timing error?"

 _Not if you…_ The rachni paused a Jane cleared her throat loudly. _Oh, right. Save Sheila first, then discuss music theory._

"I hope I can keep talking to you." Ess was shaking her head. "My mind is clearer right now that it has been in _years._ " She took a deep breath. "Sheila..."

"Ess, please." Sheila begged. "Don't throw your life away for me."

"I am not." Ess promised. "Not unless there is no other choice. But right now, you need to go back. It will hurt like a motherfucker." Janet hissed, but Nikis just laughed.

"And ya tell _me_ to watch _my_ language? Hypocrite." The Nekros shook his head and his tone was suddenly about as warm as an ice cube. "We are coming."

"We will hold." Ess promised. "For Sheila."

"For _all_ of us." Sheila promised.

The world fell away and Sheila screamed as pain flared through her.

" _SHEILA!_ " Jennifer's matching scream had Sheila's sensors peaking. She saw Jennifer spin and two things arced from her wrist. One blue lightning, the other fiery. When they connected with the hapless Acolyte who had shot Sheila, powerful blast of some kind literally threw him across the room. He did not get up from where he landed.

"I am okay!" Sheila said quickly even as she checked diagnostics. As Ess had warned, the beam had hit her life support box and fried certain critical components, but she had time, if not a lot of it. The Oracle must have done something to keep Sheila awake though. "I am hurt, but I am good for now."

"Who are you?" Stalker demanded as he appeared nearby, only to be driven back by a hail of gunfire. "What are you doing here? What gives you the right to invade my domain?"

"What gives _you_ the right to torture children?" Jennifer snapped right back, her tool throwing energy left and right that had Stalker's shields flashing. "Sheila is coming with us and you cannot stop us."

"No?" Stalker was suddenly back in the doorway, the bullets from the machine guns bouncing off. He laughed coldly as Jennifer's energy hit him and had no effect as well. "Whoever you are, you have no power here."

" _They_ may not." All eyes spun to where _Ess_ stepped out of a hole that had appeared in the wall. She wasn't wearing anything but some wires that she was pulling out of herself as she strode to the cabinet where the warframe hung. "But _I_ do." She snorted at Stalkers sudden gasp. "Did you think that you knew _all_ the secret passages in this colony? Oracle, remember?"

"That is not possible!" Stalker said weakly as Ess slid into her warframe and it powered up. "You were restrained, drugged."

"Nothing is impossible, kinslayer." Ess said with a small laugh as she stepped free and the crest on top of her warframe fanned widely. The arcs on her arms started glowing with energy. "Even one as lost in as dark despair as you forced on me, can find new hope. Sheila is _not_ yours."

Madness warred with anger in the Octavia warframe clad Tenno's tone as she focused on Stalker whose posture suddenly looked unsure. Possibly even frightened.

"LET'S _DANCE_!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Music Found  
**

Sheila didn't understand why neither Stalker nor Ess were moving.

It was almost like one of those 'showdowns' in the ancient movies that Ric sometimes showed to members of the clan who were interested. Some of his collection of ancient movies were so obscure as so as to be next to incomprehensible even when the language was understandable. Others made far more sense. In many of them, the hero and villain faced off against each other in the climax. Not that such would have ever likely happened in real life. Only an idiot ever gave his opponent a 'fair fight' after all.

"We do not need to do this." Stalker finally said. He didn't have any weapons in hand. Ess didn't have any on her warframe.

"I think we do." Ess' arms were set in an odd way, her fingers were touching the arcs of warframe on the opposite arms. "Did you enjoy hurting her? Or was that really the clone's doing? You told the wacko and I quote 'get her and make her pliant'. Was that your idea of pliant?"

"No." Stalker replied slowly, utterly ignoring the four humans who had formed up around Sheila now. Either they wee no threat to him now that he had adapted to their attacks or they were the _lesser_ threat. Sheila bet on lesser. "As soon as I saw what happened, I knew how Oracle Janet would react." He paused and shivered dramatically. "Well, not _quite_ how she would react."

"There are some lines that should never be crossed." Ess agreed. "You hunt and kill Tenno. You shouldn't have tried to take her."

"I needed her to shut off the security system here." Stalker replied. "You are not one of those I seek vengeance against. Must we fight?"

"Oh yes." Ess nearly purred that. "You wanted me to serve you and I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that such would end badly for many, not just me. So I refused and you pushed, so I got stubborn." She shrugged a little, her hands falling to her sides. "Let Sheila and the humans go."

"They invaded." Stalker did not move.

"They came after Sheila after you stole her from their care." Ess' voice was silky now, an edge of danger creeping in. "When a little girl shows up on someone's doorstep, bleeding and violated, many would react...poorly. They demanded to know who did it and no one knew. Because it wasn't anyone from their world."

"What?" Stalker had been reaching for one of his weapons, but he stopped, and was obviously staring at Ess.

"You had no way of knowing." Ess shrugged elaborately. "You sequestered her mind and hoped that her MOA form would follow the programming that the doc put in. It didn't by the way. Not sure why she came in that one, that isn't the one she was in before."

"That doesn't make any sense." Stalker protested.

"Funny thing, visions." Ess said quietly. "When you least expect or want them, they appear. Small wonder so many Oracles throughout history lost their minds. My training allowed me to function somewhat when mine took me. I wanted to be a Warrior, not a soothsayer. Silly, huh?" She started to walk and Stalker mirror her movements. "Let the girl and the humans go." She warned. "Or this is going to get very costly for you."

"I _do_ have them and I _do_ have you." Stalker replied. "My Acolytes are formed up outside and the colony is...' He paused as Ess chuckled. "What?"

"None so blind as those who see." Ess intoned. "Do you _really_ think the Tenno will leave me in your care now that they know I am here?"

"What?" Stalker demanded.

"You are so blind to everything but your own vengeance." Ess said softly. "Not that my kin are much better. Calling you a kinslayer is perhaps an error on our parts. You are no kin of ours. Once, perhaps you were. But now? Now, you are just a shadow of a memory of a Tenno. Not even a real person anymore. The Sentient did what it did and you are lost." She shook her head. "Then again, if Tenno are _anything_ , we are stubborn and you bring out the worst in us. Calling you that makes us remember, makes us hate. One final time, let Sheila and the humans go."

"You are going nowhere." Stalker declared, drawing his scythe.

" _I_ am not planning to." Ess' tone turned gleeful as she opened her arms. "Go ahead, strike me down. Kill me. Please!" She half screamed at him as he stared at her. He did not move and she shook her head. "So be it. Jennifer, ward yourselves and Sheila from auditory attack, please. And um...Try to help A-3 if you can. The doc is in there with her, so two birds, one stone and all that. As for this one, we have a dance to finish.."

Sheila jerked as something settle over her from Jennifer. The four humans crowded around her as the mad Tenno charged Stalker. The fight should have been ludicrous and short, since Ess was unarmed and Stalker was ready to fight. But he hadn't reckoned with the Tenno Oracle's cunning. She didn't run straight at Stalker, no, she hit the wall near him and a hidden cabinet flew open. No, not a cabinet! _A weapons_ _locker!_ As she rolled away from his belated strike, she had a pair of Lato pistols in hand and they started barking even as Stalker backpedaled.

"How the hell?" Stalker demanded. "That was _locked!_ "

"Yeah, it was." Ess retorted. "Until I managed to get free, spoof your sensors and scout the area a bit. Which I did each time you left. Your bonds never held me unless I _wished_ it, moron. I had all kinds of time to explore this place while locked in it. If I could have freed A-3, I would have. But I couldn't without killing her."

"Why would you _wish_ to be held?" Stalker blocked her fire but it was costing him, Sheila could see. "No." He inhaled in realization.

""Oh yes." Ess was definitely more on the maniacal side of glee now. "You really should have killed me, asshole. This is _really_ going to hurt."

"No!" Stalker backpedaled further but golden energy surged up from the floor in pulsing pillars that throbbed to a feeling that Sheila could sense through her metal feet. He jerked from whatever was hitting him. "Don't!"

"It is never _me_ who you needed to worry about, fool." Ess said quietly even as power flared around Sheila. Familiar power. The sound that she had felt when she had arrived in this place. A-3 was awake and angry! "I tried to soothe her and she appreciated it. But the hate she feels for you is an equal to your own. Come sister." She called out. "Let us show this fool and his sycophantic scum what true power _is!_ "

"No!" Stalker fled, with Ess hot on his heels, power flaring from her hands. Music poured from them in waves that even though the shields, hurt like hell.

"Ow." Jennifer winced and leans close to Sheila. "She has got some juice there. We cannot take that for long."

Sheila quickly scanned her on-board systems and found what had to be there. She projected a cancellation field around herself and the music faded to nothing. All four of the humans relaxed a little.

"I cannot keep this up forever." Sheila warned. "And you have to stay close. I don't know if we can help A-3 or not." She sighed a little. "I want to. But she is trapped inside a huge fluid filled cylinder that I saw no way to open."

"If it is filled with fluid, then we cannot blast it or the over pressure would pulp a human." Jennifer winced and Sheila made a noise of fear. "Okay, okay. I get it. We will try to help her. How bad are you hit?"

"It is bad, but I am functional for now." Sheila replied after checking her systems. Jennifer was running her own tool and her face set in a grim line. "I know it is bad."

"Should have killed you or rendered you unconscious. I know you are not the girl I saw..." Jennifer said slowly. "But I still hear her echo in you."

"I _am_ the girl you met with her legs inoperable and her throat torn out." Sheila paused. "Who the hell did that? Stalker didn't. He only had my mind, not a body."

"From what we could determine, the doc woke before you and hurt you as badly as she could while keeping you alive. She did almost the same things she had in your mind because it was all she knew. But she wanted you silenced." Jennifer's tone was savage now. "If she is here, _another_ of her anyway..." She made a face and Sheila could only grunt in agreement. "Then we need to stop her. Again."

"Ess said she was in the room with A-3." Sheila took a step towards the door and all four humans followed close. "Stay close." She warned. "I don't know the range of the cancellation field."

"We won't be able to fight like this." The largest human said quietly.

"And your Typhoon made such a dent after he adapted?" Jennifer snarked and the other female human chuckled at her tone. "Might as well throw _feces_ at him."

" _Don't give him ideas!_ " The other two chorused and Jennifer chuckled as the huge man winced in exaggerated hurt.

"Why do I get the feeling that it is always _something_ with you people?" Sheila felt a matching sense of amusement. Jennifer shrugged and made a 'Who me?' gesture. "Out the door, second door on… the..." She had reached the door and the corridor beyond was littered with Acolytes. Well, _pieces_ of Acolytes.

"Holy shit." The huge human said slowly. "I didn't do all of that."

"First time for everything, huh, Vega?" Jennifer smiled as he made a rude gesture at her. "This Ess is not one to tick off."

"No." Sheila scanned the closest form and what she found horrified her.

The Acolyte had been hit by tightly modulated sound that had torn the female apart. It was well known that sound could be amplified to meet many different needs. Music was, at its core, the modulation of sound to be pleasing to the ear. Many knew that high pitched or sustained sounds could cause damage. Banshee warframes used sound as their primary weapon. Indeed Sheila has seen the results of a Banshee's rampage in Clergy video reports of the state of the facility where she had been created. Serene's rampage had sent shockwaves through the entire Corpus for a number of reasons. Not the least of which was when they discovered that she had done it to avenge her daughters and then to save the rest of the area from the Orokin tower that had been subsuming the habitat. No one wanted to anger the Banshee again and no one outside the Clergy and Tenno now realized that the Serene who had done that no longer existed.

As if that thought had summoned her, a holo of the Reverend Mother of the Clergy appeared nearby within the field. Maybe it had?

"Sheila, you have to hurry." The Reverend Mother said quickly. "Ess can hold his attention, but if he gathers his wits, he will kill A-3 and then Ess won't have a chance against him." She ignored the humans aiming at her holo.

"I cannot hear you, Reverend Mother." Sheila begged. "I am alone in my mind."

"I know, dear heart." The Clergy's mouthpiece said sadly. "I don't know how it happened, but it did. You have been severed from us."

"No!" Sheila begged. "Reverend Mother, I..."

"Sheila, focus!" The nun said firmly. "A-3 and Ess need you. Get to A-3, get her free if you can. If you cannot..." She shook her head. "Damn, I had hoped the Tenno would be there in time, but they have to fight their way in. This time, there will be no mercy. I am sorry Sheila. I didn't want saddle you with her life."

"Stalker didn't tear out my throat, Reverend Mother." Sheila said as she took step after step towards the door that led to the lab where A-3 was imprisoned. "I do not know who did."

"Safety first, mysteries _second_." The Reverend Mother nodded to the others and vanished.

"And you say it is always something about _us_." Vega mused.

"Oh hush." Sheila wanted to jerk her words back as soon as they had flown, but he just chuckled. "Sorry I got you into this."

"Eh..." Vega grunted again. "Done weirder shit." Sheila paused in mid-step and looked at him. He shrugged. "I have."

"I _do not_ want to know." Sheila said firmly and all three of the others laughed as she started off again.

"Smart kid." Vega chuckled with her.

Said chuckle died as they approached the door to A-3's prison and it hissed open. Just inside, the clone doc lay on the floor, her mouth agape in a soundless scream and her sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. A scan really wasn't necessary, but Sheila did it anyway. No life signs.

"Want me to make sure?" Vega asked Sheila, aiming his machine gun at the doc's head.

"I..." Sheila gave a tiny sob. "No. She is dead and I don't want to hurt people. I don't want to be like her! I don't."

"You are not." Jennifer laid a hand on Sheila's housing. "You are better than her. Come on, lets get the girl and get out of here."

"Right." Inside the room, the sound was throbbing at Sheila's shield. She could almost literally feel A-3's anger as the woman looked away from them. She couldn't see anything but blank wall there, but the woman had be focused on something. Probably Stalker. The glass thing was just as featureless now as is had been before. Jennifer looked around and started scanning with her tool.

"It looks as if the fluid drains and it retracts into the floor." Jennifer said after a moment's perusal of the scans. "But I have no idea what leaving that fluid will do to her. She is a mess."

"She is my sister." Sheila said weakly. "My last sister made from the same things they made me from. But… if we deactivate the sound machinery, Ess will die. I… No."

"He doesn't want her dead." Vega said slowly. "He wants her alive or he would have cut her down where she stood."

" _He_ wants her alive." Sheila said weakly. " _Ess_ wants to die."

"Oh." Vega had a grimace in his voice that did not show through his closed visor. "Well, that sucks. Boss? We can go as soon as we get the girl?"

"Yeah." Jennifer waved to the bank of switches that Sheila had used before. "We can use those to turn off the sound, then we can free her."

"Wait." Sheila extended an appendage to the glass material and tapped it. A-3 turned her head and he eyes went huge under her mask as she saw Sheila and the humans with her. She shook her head slowly. Sheila tapped the glass again and A-3 made a 'shoo' gesture with one hand that didn't go far. The fluid was probably a lot thicker than water to be so hard for her to move in. Or she was very weak. Sheila paused and then an idea came to her from somewhere deep in the recesses of her memory. The glass was reflective enough… She played a low power laser across is, not enough to harm A-3 in any way, just enough to be visible. To leave glowing letters in a script that A-3 would be able to read.

'Not much time.' Sheila wrote. 'Need to free you and flee.' A-3 shook her head sadly, tears were falling inside her mask. 'We have to try! Sister, please!'

'Sister' A-3's mouth worked to form that word but of course if she spoke it, there was no sound over the thudding music. She nodded once and closed her eyes.

Sheila moved with the humans around her to the switches. As before, she flipped each of them in turn and the music shut off, but this time, Jennifer was in motion as soon as the sound died. A flash and the fluid was draining from the cylinder. It seemed to take forever, but was likely bare moments before A-3 was curled up on the floor of the enclosure, heaving in grief or fear. Another flash from Jennifer's omni-tool and the cylinder started to retract.

"Please leave me, Sheila." A-3's audible voice was a jarring thing to Sheila as Jennifer pulled the mask off her face. It was so like her other sisters Sara and Cecelia but not. It was far more like her own recorded voice that she had heard. Jennifer was unhooking her with frantic haste, the other male human helping. The other two aimed weapons at the door. "You cannot help me."

"Maybe I can't but I have to try." Sheila was playing her scanners over the girl even as Vega produced and emergency blanket form somewhere on his person and covered the girl before Jennifer was done unhooking her. She smiled her thanks and then gave an eep as Vega hefted her into his arms. "You are the last of my sisters, I have to do whatever I can."

"He... He made you like me?" A-3 said weakly even as Jennifer worked.

"No. Yes. Eh, no." Sheila snarled at herself. "Long story. We need to go. They can help you or at least let you pass somewhere where you are not a slave to a horror."

"This is all I know." A-3 said weakly as Vega hefted her in gentle arms. "All I have ever known. I am scared."

"We got you." Vega promised. "Let's go, boss!"

That was, of course, when the door hissed open again and Stalker stood there, Ess' crumpled form in his hands.

"You are going _nowhere_!"


	19. Chapter 19

**What would you do?**

Sheila was in motion before anyone else did anything.

Before Stalker could raise a weapon, she stood between the humans and the Tenno boogeyman.

"Feel free to kill me now." Sheila said quietly even as she felt the incredulity land on her from behind. "Your slave doctor is dead. So I am going to treat Ess' wounds." She turned several of the machines on her chassis to the stricken warframe and fought not to gasp. Ess had apparently put up a fight, or all the good it had done her..

"You have _all_ -" Stalker started, only to be cut of by Sheila.

"If you want her _dead_ , feel free to continue posturing." Sheila snapped. She couldn't quite see Ess' life force fading but the readings she was getting were far too low to be good. She continued to work her gear, praying she was doing the right things. She didn't know warframe tech. "You don't, do you? I doubt you could bring her back as an Oracle. As a toy or a puppet? Sure. An Oracle? No."

"Sheila..." Jennifer's voice was taut with fear and worry.

"Jennifer, go." Sheila did not take her sensors off Stalker. "You came for me and I thank you for it, but I am beyond saving. A-3 probably isn't beyond saving. It is _her_ or _me_ and I choose _her_. _Go_."

"None of you are- What? _NO!_ " Stalker exclaimed as something happened behind Sheila. She did not turn her sensors that way, but a sudden swoosh of air heralded the humans leaving somehow.

"They are gone. Out of your reach." Sheila played her most powerful series of regenerators across the most grievous of Ess' wounds. The stricken Tenno heaved once in Stalker's arms and then then gasped.

"Sheila… no..." Ess begged weakly. "Let me go. Please."

"I can't do that, Ess." Sheila replied. "I am what I am. Just as you are what you are. It is done." Ess spun her head to stare at the MOA and then she bit back a sob. "I know. I am sorry."

"What the hell do _you_ have to be sorry for, girl?" Ess demanded. "He had you tortured and raped to turn you into his puppet. Has he succeeded?"

"No." Sheila replied. Ess stared at her and then gasped. "Don't say it, Ess. I made my choice. If they can save her, A-3 will have a good life."

"Don't ignore me, girl." Stalker warned as he lay Ess down on the floor. He did something and her warframe was suddenly coated in evil looking energy. "I will hurt you."

"Of course you will." Sheila said quietly. "It is what you know. All you know. I am honestly curious about something though."

"If you are going to be civilized about this, then there is no need to hurt you." Stalker replied. "What are you curious about?"

"Was this truly your plan?" Sheila asked. "Enslaving me?"

"Would you believe me if I said 'No'?" Stalker asked, to all appearances honestly curious himself.

"I might." Sheila replied. "The doc was insane, no question."

"I did not realize how far she had fallen." Stalker admitted. "I told her not to hurt you. She did anyway. I punished her for that. But this..." He shook his head. "This makes no sense. After all of this, all of your fear, you are not afraid now. Why?"

"Because your Acolyte who teleported into the lab hit me with an Opticor laser cannon at short range." Sheila replied. "It pierced my life support box and destroyed several core systems. I am dying and there is nothing anyone can do about it. I have maybe half an hour left." Stalker stiffened and Sheila made a noise of regret. "So much I wanted to do. To learn. Over now. Because your puppet shot first and didn't bother to ask questions later."

"I am sorry." Stalker said slowly and wonder of wonders, he truly seemed to mean it. "I kill Tenno. You are not Tenno."

"So?" Sheila demanded. "Why not just kill, torture and frighten anyone and everyone you can, because you _can_? You have the power, who not use it for your own enjoyment like the doc?"

"I am nothing like her!" Stalker snapped.

"It served your purpose!" Sheila snapped right back. "I am here. Ess is alive. You don't have to worry about A-3 going nuts again. Yeah, you will loose me in a bit, but hey! You won. Hooray. All it cost was _my soul_." She all but screamed the last. "All it cost was a girl's pain and fear. Well, you did it. You beat Janet. Because I asked her _not_ to destroy your hiding holes. I think she will do as I asked. She may hunt you in other ways or get Nikis to, but she won't simply lay waste."

"You… asked… her that?" Stalker seemed at a loss for words.

"What kind of a _monster_ do you take me for?" Sheila demanded angrily. "No! I _don't_ want my mother to slaughter thousands of innocent people just to kill you and yours. I am not _YOU!_ " Again, a shout, but Stalker seemed to relax. Odd.

"No, you are not." Stalker said softly. "And that is a good thing." Sheila stared at him and he shook his head. "Sheila, you said it. Just like you, _I_ am what _I_ am. I have been this for a very long time. I have sacrificed a lot, made a lot of deals that I regret now. But in the end, I had to do it. No one else could."

"Making a deal with the Sentient was a mistake." Sheila snapped.

"There was no 'deal'; involved Sheila." Stalker sounded resigned now. "It didn't bother to ask my help. It ambushed me. I had no choice but to aid it. I would again, to strike at the Tenno. I thought my core would be protected since it only took a copy."

"But it wasn't." Sheila said flatly. Stalker shook his head. "Can I at least ask you to return my MOA form to the Clergy once I pass? They can dispose of it safely. There are too many traps built into my life support box to remove me from it."

"I can do that. I wondered why they left you in it." Stalker mused. "But that isn't the one I saw in the dojo. What happened?"

"I don't know." Sheila admitted. "I was here as a MOA, then I was elsewhere as a human, then I was back here as a different MOA." Stalker stiffened and Sheila snarled. "Don't even think it! If it was an alternate world..."

" _WHAT?_ " Stalker demanded. But he wasn't angry. He seemed… almost fearful? Sheila took a step back and he raised empty hands. "Sheila, wait. What do you mean? An alternate world? Like a parallel _dimension_?"

" _How_ the _hell_ should _I_ know?" Sheila demanded and then gasped as something went click inside her. She stumbled, but caught herself. Her systems were failing sooner than she had thought. "I woke up a human somewhere else, my throat had been slit and I was..."

She paused as Stalker made an odd noise. Somewhere between a hum and a whistle, it was loud, almost overpowering. Then he was alternating tones, almost music?

"What are you _doing_?" Ess demanded from where she lay. "That is… no! Stop! You _can't_! That is _forbidden_!"

Everything stopped as a human appeared in the middle of the room. He looked normal. Well, normal for a human. Dirty blonde hair over hazel eyes and a face that looked as used to smiling as frowning a sit was now. A long sleeved white shirt sat atop sturdy looking blue pants with large pockets on each leg. Sturdy boots finished the look. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him. But there was. He stared around and then glared at Stalker.

"You _better_ have a _damn_ good reason for summoning me." Sheila shivered. He was _not_ human. Nothing human could possibly make such a deep voice. "I am half tempted to drag you into that other world and let the Solinus clan have you after what you did to this girl. Dropping her like that was evil, you son of a butch."

"I didn't do it." Stalker said gravely. "But I think a copy of me did."

" _What_ did you say?" The not-a-human suddenly had Stalker by the throat and held up off the ground in an iron grip. Stalker did not resist. "If you are lying to me, I will burn the armor right off you and take you to Melissa myself. She knows some tricks with spoons that even _Mag_ wouldn't try."

"I put the girl's mind into a safe place." Stalker gasped out. "No one else has access, just me! So… The only way for her to wind up as somewhere else… was if _I_ did it. But I _didn't_."

For a long, long moment, the not-a-human stared at the faceplate of the Tenno boogeyman and then he snarled something that sounded vile.

 _ **Come.**_

The word reverberated through Sheila and she gasped the world simply altered. It didn't fall away like a virtual world forming. It didn't shift like an illusion. It simply _changed_.

Sheila was suddenly standing as a human in a huge amphitheater. It seemed to be made of stone, with large alcoves set into the walls as high as she could see. She couldn't see a ceiling or the sky. Stalker and Ess stood beside her. Both still wore their armor, but neither moved as Sheila stared around. All around her, and stretching off into the hazy distances, she could see amorphous masses of energy forming, some at her level, some in the alcoves. She focused on one and it seemed to move close before resolving into a small human shaped form with wide dark eyes and silky brown hair. Two pointed ears stuck up from the hair and Sheila fought to keep from gaping.

"Easy, girl." What had to be an elf said kindly as she moved to stand by Sheila, her eyes going wide as she looked the girl over. "Wow, did a number on you, didn't someone?"

"I guess." Sheila said weakly and then wilted as her energy fled.

"Oh crap." The elf sighed and white energy flared from her fingers to cover Sheila. "Holy shit. He _ignored_ this? I am going to have his tripes!" Sheila didn't know what the other did, but she felt better. "Don't move. I can hold it but not stop it. You need a lot more care as well as time and rest to heal. If he lets you."

"Ma'am..." Ess sounded wary. "Um, what is going on?"

"Don't need to Ma'am me, Oracle Ess. I am just a warden, not a lord or lady. It is not every day we all get summoned." The elf shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine at the moment. I am betting he got distracted and didn't realize the girl was dying."

"You healed me?" Sheila couldn't believe such had been so quick and effortless.

"No." The elf looked at her and shook her head. "I staved off systemic collapse for a bit. I am not allowed to do more even here and it would take heroic measures to… Ah, the guest of honor."

Sheila gasped aloud as a huge silver form landed in front of her. It had four legs, two wings, a long serpentine tail and a head that had far too many teeth. It held a struggling form in one clawed hand. Stalker. But… The one beside Sheila made a noise that was half regret, half anger.

"You..." The elf sounded more than a bit dismayed by this. "You _didn't_." Her tone turned resigned. "You _know_ better."

"Even the Orokin knew better than to cross the boundaries unbidden." Stalker said slowly. "I… I can only guess my copy didn't understand or care."

Everyone gasped as the dragon took hold of the struggling Stalker with both foreclaws and gave a yank. The head and torso flew one way, the legs another. The dragon stepped on the legs with a foreclaw and they went squish. It turned to the other parts and the elf put herself in front of Sheila as the dragon drew in a deep breath.

"You will kill _her!_ " The elf waved at Sheila as she spoke in a voice that was far too loud to come from such a small form. Amplified somehow? "Just as ignoring her mortal wound would have."

"She chose her path." The dragon seemed to shimmer and the human from before stood there. "He violated the treaty."

"Yes, apparently I did." Stalker nodded, straightening himself. "But Ess and Sheila are innocent in this."

"They were with you when you called me." The dragon in human form said flatly. "So by definition, they _cannot_ be innocent."

"Excuse me. Am I on trial?" Sheila asked in a timid voice. The dragon shook his head as the elf nodded. They glared at one another. "Am I allowed representation?"

"You have it." The dragon glared at Stalker who winced as Sheila and Ess both stared at him, incredulous. "He is _supposed_ to keep these things from happening on his side of the boundary. This is the _third_ _time_!"

"I um..." Stalker actually squirmed under the angry dragon's gaze. "I was distracted."

"That is no excuse." The dragon snapped and the started for Stalker, only to pause as Ess stepped between them. "Oracle. Move."

"He swore binding oaths to avenge a fallen Empire." Ess said quietly, but her voice carried. "Would you have him ignore his honor entirely?"

"I would have him _do the job_ he swore to do!" The dragon snarled.

"Was that before or after the Collapse?" Ess was implacable and Sheila quailed, but the elf winked at her. "It does matter." She said mildly when the dragon snorted and a hint of smoke came from the human nostrils. "Most of those oaths were circumscribed by sections such as 'until the world ends'. Orokin _did_ end. Our world ended."

"Ess…?" Sheila asked slowly. "Why are you _defending_ him?"

"Because he called the warden with us present, we share his fate. Live or die, we share it." Ess said quietly. The dragon eyed her and she shrugged. "It has been a long time since I studied law, but I did study a bit of dimensional law theory. Not many Tenno can handle such, but I was insane already."

"It _does_ help." The elf chuckled.

"That is not fair." Sheila said slowly. "I mean, I am dying anyway. But you..." She shook her head. "No. No, that is not fair!"

"Fair has nothing to do with the law." The dragon said firmly. "He made a copy of himself and that copy broke the law. He made the copy, he is responsible."

"If Hunhow sees _this_..." Sheila felt her guts start to freeze, but Ess laid a hand on her arm.

"It has tried to access this, but it has always failed. Even the Orokin, for all of their techno-wizardry, could not break through. Tenno know better than to _try_." Ess said with a grin. "The wardens do not take such incursions kindly." The elf and the human shaped dragon both shook their heads. "Okay, he does bear some responsibility for what his copy did. As witnesses to his summoning, we also bear his responsibility. Are our lives to be forfeit then?"

"Yes." The dragon said flatly. "The law is the law."

"No." The elf said just as flatly. "There are gray areas and you know it."

Sheila stared from one to the other and her strength failed her. She heard Ess cry her name as she fell, but then she was being held by someone.

"I just wanted to be a medic..." Sheila cried as she felt her life fleeing "I just wanted to help people. I was made to be a monster and I just wanted to help people." A soft hand was rubbing her head gently as she cried.

"Well?" The elf's voice came from far away. "Still want her dead?"

"No." The dragon sounded sad now. "You are right. No matter what we decide for him, _she_ deserves better. Sheila." His voice roused her for a moment. "Sheila, look at me." She stared up at a huge silver snout and could not muster the energy for fear. He spoke and his voice was kind. "What do you want, girl?"

"I am what I am." Sheila said weakly. "I want… to heal. To live. To love. To… To be… me."

 _ **Done**_

The word reverberated through Sheila. The resonance should have hurt, but it didn't. It felt oddly familiar, almost like the Clergy's music or the rachni music, but not quite like either. She could almost remember them. But what was she trying to remember? She couldn't pull anything to mind. Almost as if… As if… She took those musings into a slumber that was jarred away by a loud voice.

"SHEILA?"

Sheila's eyes shot open and she stared around in wonder. She stood in a corridor unlike any she knew. The walls were a mix of industrial colors and cheery art in places. But that paled beside the woman who stood in front of her. Jennifer had been crying. Illia stood by her mate and both looked as shocked as Sheila felt.

Sheila stared down at herself and she had another shock. She was human again! She wore some kind of garment she had no name for and she felt a weight on her back.

"Um… Hi?" Sheila managed before Jennifer had scooped her up and was hugging her tight. Illia hadn't moved.

"You just appeared." Illia said slowly. "Out of thin air."

"I did?" Sheila tried to remember what had happened. She remembered the facility. Finding Ess. The fight with Stalker and his minions. Then… nothing. Her mind shied away form trying to focus on what had happened and she let it. But one thing jumped at her. "A-3! Did she..?"

"She will be okay, Sheila." Jennifer said with a wide smile. Then she started crying. "You were dying. How…? I mean, why tell us to leave you?" She begged.

"I was dying." Sheila said softly. "A-3 had a chance. I didn't."

"Don't _ever_ do that again." Jennifer said sternly and then her expression turned wary. "Are you here to stay?"

Sheila thought about that and then smiled.

"Yes."


	20. Chapter 20

**Resets**

Sheila was ready for this to be done.

She was back in the hospital, in a private room with Jennifer at her side. The bed was a bit more comfortable than the last one she had been in, but she had fewer monitors and things attached to her now too. Her body was chronologically five years old and still bore the scars of her ordeals, but she had no pain now for which she was grateful.

But this time, she was meeting with VIPs so she was on her best behavior even if they were merely holos. Four councilors seemed to be an odd number to Sheila, but from what Jennifer said it seemed to work. The problem was that the docs had done their best to check her out before the Council had seen her. Between explaining to Jennifer, Illia and now the Council in addition to all the tests? Sheila was beyond tired.

"...and I don't know what happened after that. My memory cuts off, which suggests it was tampered with. But I feel safe now." Sheila finished speaking and sat down heavily. Jennifer laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled a little, Sheila covered it with her own and smiled back, a little tiredly. Then again, she had been explaining what had happened to a number of people for the last _four_ _hours_. The five hours before that had been a series of scans, questions and interviews, many of which had been less than pleasant. Jennifer had never left her side though and Sheila's felt her heart swell whenever the woman looked at her.

"We received a report that the one who dropped you in the care of the Solinus clan was 'dealt with'." The older alien who looked like Illia said with a frown. "But also according to the report, you didn't see any of that."

The Councilor's words were not a question and Sheila just sagged a little. She was so tired. Jennifer gave her shoulder a squeeze and the alien matriarch frowned deeper.

"You are exhausted, Sheila. I think we have everything we need." The asari said with a nod. She looked to the other three councilors and they nodded in turn. "So now, we come to your status. What is it that you want? If you are a visitor from an alternate reality, will you be going back?"

"I don't think so." Sheila said slowly. "I don't know what happened, not really. All I have are feelings now. And my feelings are that I belong here. With Jennifer." She smiled at Jennifer and the older woman returned it. "I don't know how I came back here or why. I expected to die. But I didn't."

"For which we are devoutly grateful." The asari replied. "The one who hurt you has been remanded into our custody. Her mind was apparently fractured into bits by whatever the AI did to break you free form her." She shook her head. "Its methods were effective, but were not what it said they were. It will not be used again."

"And everyone will breath a heartfelt sigh of relief." The turian councilor said with a snarl. "Turning that thing back on was a _bad_ idea." Sheila nodded and he looked at her. "What are your thoughts? You are the one it hurt most recently."

"The cycle of vengeance must end." Sheila said quietly. "Punishing an AI is pointless anyway. It was simply doing as it thought it was programmed." Everyone winced at that and Sheila nodded "I was told that was what started the whole mess with the Reapers in the first place. So, dismantle it and forget about it. I intend to."

"Yes. The asari agreed. "We thought to use it, even as flawed as it was. Our mistake caused you great pain."

"I am alive, Councilor." Sheila said with a shrug. "All I can do is go on. I would like to stay with Jennifer if that is permitted. I want to study healing, maybe study to be a doctor."

"That won't take long." Jennifer smiled widely. "Your knowledge base hasn't suffered. We get you trained up on the tech here and you will be outstripping everyone in healing in a decade or so."

"I..." Sheila slumped a bit further and Jennifer nodded to her.

"I think we are done for now." The asari councilor said with a nod. "If we have any further questions..." She paused as Jennifer cleared her throat. "Right."

"Sheila needs sleep now, Councilors." Jennifer's words were technically polite and not an order. But all four Councilors smiled at her, nodded to Sheila and the older human. Then they vanished.

"Did you _really_ just tell your political masters to go away?" Sheila asked as she laid back on the bed. She smiled as Jennifer pulled the small blanket up over her.

The blanket was odd. It wasn't anything Sheila knew, but it smelled of Janet. Which made no sense at all. It had been in a small backpack that had appeared with Sheila. A couple of paper books that Sheila had never seen before had also been in the pack. Ancient medical texts that both Jennifer and Illia had taken one look at and immediately called a museum to come take care of. The books were easily a two hundred years old and priceless. Sheila wasn't sure what had happened, but whatever had, she hadn't come out of it empty handed. There had also been a chip of some kind that Jennifer said contained credits. Although how the hell Sheila had managed to get credits for this place, she had no idea. No one had any idea how many credits were on it. The only way to find out was to open a bank account, and Sheila wasn't going to be ready to do that for another couple of days.

Jennifer had promised to walk Sheila through it and…

"Jennifer." Sheila said drowsily. "How is A-3?"

"Doing well." Jennifer sat ion the chair beside Sheila's bed with a grunt. Sheila looked at her and Jennifer shrugged. "Old bones, old wounds. I am good, just not a young as I used to be."

"What did Anya say?" Sheila asked even as Sleep called her.

"She said it is no weirder than anything else we have done recently. Both of you are welcome. She is thinking about names for A-3 right now." Jennifer smiled. "Now sleep, young lady. Big day tomorrow. Not every day you meet a new family."

Sheila nodded and then laid her head back and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she was meeting the matriarchs of the Solinus clan,. Both of whom were flying out to meet her. Sheila's mind whirled from all of the new information that she had been picking up as she had been grilled by security forces, political forces, press, all of that. Jennifer and Illia had finally convinced the Council to stick with the story that Sheila was the last survivor from a retro colony. That she had been captured by pirates and abused by the same. The doc therefore had been one of those pirates. It neatly explained how Sheila didn't know so much and allowed the Solinus clan to take her in. She was sad. She missed Janet, Sara, Mishka and all of the others, both Tenno and human, who she had come to love. But here, she was human and not a robot with organic parts. She could be all she wanted.

Sleep came quickly, but then she was swept up by music. Sheila was smiling as she found herself in a large room with three people in it that she knew. Janet, the Reverend Mother and the Lotus. But it was the Tenno wearing the ornate warframe who was playing an odd golden instrument that had Sheila's smile turn huge.

"Ess!" Sheila exclaimed happily and then clapped her hands over her mouth as the Tenno nodded to her, still playing. The music was different now, calmer, sadder. A bit poignant while at the same time, happy and carefree. The music wound up with a flourish and Sheila started to clap. She was hardly the only one as Ess took a bow.

"Hi, Sheila." Ess sounded different too. Less stressed, more in control. "We wanted to say goodbye, so I wrangled some favors."

"I figured I couldn't come back." Sheila felt her heart lurch as Janet stepped forward. For once, the Oracle wore no headdress and her eyes was shining with unshed tears. "Mom… I..."

"Come here." Janet stepped forward, took Sheila in her arms and hugged her tight. "You were never happy as a MOA. No one ever blamed you for that, and you adjusted well. But you never were. Now, you have the chance to be happy. That clan will help you but they will also let you spread your wings when it comes time to. I am sad. Sheila, I will miss you. We will never be able to talk again. In time, your life with us will fade from your memory and your life there will take over completely. We will be a dream."

"A happy dream with sad and icky parts." Sheila hugged Janet right back. "I don't know what happened at the end, Mom."

"That is for the best." Ess said quietly from where she stood. "There are things that must never be named. There are powers far beyond any Tenno or Oracle. We Oracles will be watching every so often, Sheila but we cannot interfere. The powers that ward the spaces between worlds are not to be trifled with." Her voice held a mix of awe and wariness.

"Anisette?" Sheila asked Janet who slumped a bit.

"You were right, Sheila." Janet said quietly. "What I did to her was _wrong_. She considers me her mother now and has joined a village of aquatic dwellers on Titan to help tend me and the other Oracles. You asked me not to seek vengeance for you, Sheila and I did anyway. I am sorry, girl." Sheila tensed but Janet shook her head. "It ended with Anisette. He hurt my daughter, I took his."

"He didn't do it." Sheila said softly. "He was just as horrified."

"I cannot believe that, Sheila." Janet said weakly. "I know what he said. Ess told me. But I cannot."

"No one is asking you to be perfect, Mom." Sheila hugged Janet again. She looked at the floor. "Jennifer, Illia and C-Flat Amethyst are helping, but my nightmares will be slow to fade. At least they can control the lusts."

"You will have problems when that body develops into puberty." Janet hugged Sheila again. "I wish I could help." She was crying softly now.

"You have." Sheila reassured her. "You did. You gave me a life. You saw a monster, an abomination and you made me your daughter instead of a thing. I can never repay that, Oracle Janet. All I can do is go on."

"Be healthy and happy. That is all I ask." Janet said with a smile that faltered. "And try to avoid people with guns in the future?"

"I don't think Jennifer is going to let Sheila out of her sight any time soon." Ess chuckled from where she stood. Sheila looked at her and then at the others.

"We came to say goodbye too, Sheila." The Reverend Mother stepped forward to take Sheila's hands in her own. "Many of the Clergy are crying. You have been a rock of kindness in our often turbulent world."

"Part of me feels that this is a betrayal." Sheila gave the nun's hands a squeeze. "It was meant for life and it was _not_ easy to get me into the Clergy in the first place."

"That it wasn't." The Reverend Mother said with a smile."But Sheila, you need to be free. As a MOA, you would never have been given the rights that you deserved. As a human, the only limits are the ones you set yourself."

"I know." Sheila pulled the nun into a hug that the Reverend Mother returned before stepping back. Sheila turned to the last person in the room who nodded to her. "Lotus?"

"My children are saddened by your leaving." The Lotus said quietly. "They too understand what it is to be considered 'things' but even they treated you badly on occasion."

"Tiana and her clan did not. Iriana never did." Sheila said quickly. "Falcon, Heron and the others were kind." She paused and made a face. "Well, not Hawk, but that is just her."

"No, they didn't." The Lotus smiled gently. "Know that wherever you go, whatever you do, you will be remembered as a friend to the Tenno. When you pass from this life to whatever awaits humans in that universe, you will never be forgotten."

"My… My body?" Sheila asked the room.

"Your MOA form was delivered to the Clergy eight hours ago." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "One of Stalker's Acolytes delivered it. We will bury your organic parts in our private cemetery. As far as anyone else knows, the MOA was destroyed and you died."

"I think I did." Sheila said softly but gave a squeak as Janet tickled her. "Hey!"

"Better get used to it." Janet smiled wide as Sheila made indignant noises. "Human bodies are very different from robot ones. I better...get back."

"I love you, Mom." Sheila said sadly as she hugged Janet tight once more and released her. Janet smiled wide and then vanished. The Lotus bowed to Sheila and vanished as well. Sheila looked at the Reverend Mother. "You didn't see anything, did you? In the parts I do not remember. You were following me, trying to help. I remember that."

"No comment." The Reverend Mother said repressively. Sheila looked at her and the nun winked before vanishing herself.

"Ess..." Sheila tried not to whine as the Tenno bent back to her instrument.

"If _anyone_ can keep a secret, _she_ can. In time, your curiosity will fade as you encounter your new life with all of it's twists and turns." Ess promised. "You do not need to know what happened. You have a long life ahead of you, Sheila. I see both joy and pain, good and bad ahead of you. But that is life."

"And you?" Sheila asked. Ess did not respond for a long time and Sheila did not move.

"I am not going to lie, Sheila." Ess' voice was barely above a whisper. "This isn't going to be fun for me. I am not sane by anyone's stretch of imagination. The only good news is that despite my Warrior training, I have never been violent in my insanity except my music."

"You didn't know you were an Oracle until you were in training." Sheila felt realization and horror dawn.

"In my Trial actually." Ess shrugged. "It was buried deep under a pile of tradition and training. When It finally burst loose, it did so with a vengeance. I am not a killer, Sheila and what I did in Stalker's base will haunt me. I had no choice, but...still."

"Ess?" Sheila asked quietly as the Tenno readied herself to play.

"Yes, Sheila?" The Oracle asked, only to pause as Sheila ran to her and hugged her tight. "Oof! Sheila!"

"You do not need to be alone, Ess." Sheila said with a sob. "Tiana's clan would help you. Iriana would help you."

"I know." Ess slowly returned the embrace. "I will talk with them. I just need some time." Sheila looked at her sidelong and Ess chuckled. "No. No more running away. I promise Sheila. I don't know if I will ever get over what he did. I still see their faces, hear them scream even though it was almost instantaneous."

"You said the rachni music helped." Sheila pleaded. "Would you be able to _listen_ across the boundary?"

"Maybe." Ess shrugged "But I do not want to anger anyone or any _thing_. I will proceed with care."

"That is all anyone can do." Sheila agreed. "So, this is goodbye?"

"I think… 'Good journey' instead of 'Goodbye'." Ess said after a moment. "You are walking a new road. We do not know what the future holds. Even Oracles cannot know what the exact future is or none of what happened to you would have." Sheila nodded soberly. "We may see each other again someday, we may not. You made a difference, Sheila. Never doubt that."

"I feel strange, Ess." Sheila admitted. "I was a monster for so long, now? I am just another human."

"Strange is as strange does." Ess chuckled at Sheila's expression. She hugged Sheila again and then started to play.

The music was different. Brilliant, all vibrant and colorful. It grabbed Sheila and held her tight. She smiled wide as her horrific memories eased, the music soaring through and guiding her to her future. She was crying softly as her mind was sent back to her dreams, but they were tears of joy.

"That could not have been easy." A familiar form wearing N7 armor appeared nearby. Jane's face was grim. Ess shook her head, silent. "I am sorry, but after what the warden did, she couldn't go back. There was too much damage. She couldn't be a robot again."

"I know." Ess sighed deeply. "I was there, Jane. She was such a good kid. She didn't deserve any of that."

"No, she didn't." Jane agreed. "Jennifer will take her in hand though. That crazy woman needs to settle down anyway. As soon as she does, a whole lot of people will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Illia included. Will Janet guess?" She asked slowly.

"Maybe." Ess sighed. "I didn't think it through, you know? That crazy clone was tormenting me night and day, so a simple twist of her mind and she fixated on _Sheila_ instead. By the time I saw the consequences, it was too late. Everything that happened to the girl was and is my fault."

"Sheila has a chance for a better future now." Jane smiled fondly. "She won't lack for support from her clan or funds when she deposits that credit chip, although the amount may make more than a few banks treat her differently. Not every 5 year old has a billion credits, after all. I thought that a bit much, but dragons don't usually lack for funds and I wasn't going to argue with him."

"Wise."

"Sheila has a solid head on her shoulders and she has help now. If _anyone_ knows about recovering from horrific injuries, that clan does." Jane replied. "And as for penance? You will serve it and then some."

"Yeah, don't remind me." Ess glowered at the transparent human " _Still_ wanted to kill him slowly."

"After what he did to you?" Jane shrugged. "Don't blame you. But you know how intra-dimensional law works, either you were _all_ guilty or you were all _innocent_. _Sheila_ was innocent, therefore..."

"So was _Stalker_." Ess groaned. "Gah! And to be roped into _this_ job?"

"You had almost as much choice as _I_ did. They couldn't trust _him_ to keep that side of the boundary secure, now could they?" Jane asked. "Now, with no memory of that, he is freed to do what he does. And _you_ are free to do what you do." She eyed Ess who shook her head.

"Yeah." Ess sighed as she turned back to the instrument.

"I make music to absolve me of my sins. Especially the sins I committed against a poor gentle medic."

Then she started to play again.


End file.
